Rebound
by GoldenHairedKiller
Summary: Bella is a famous singer with the stage name "Penny", who has a handsome assistant, Edward. Bella loves him madly. When Edward has a dramatic break-up, Bella is, of course, waiting with open arms. But will this fact destroy her career? ALL HUMAN.
1. So What, I'm Still a Rock Star

Bella is a famous singer with the stage name "Penny", who has a handsome assistant, Edward. Bella treats him badly, but in fact she actually loves him. When Edward has a dramatic break-up, Bella is, of course, waiting with open arms. But will this fact destroy her career? ALL HUMAN

Chapter 1

There's something addictive about performing. When you have 10,000 screaming teenagers in front of you, it makes you a little crazy. Any other performer will tell you the same. I don't think my manager understands that. Which is why he's telling me off for kicking my mic stand, and breaking it. Apparently they cost a lot. Why does he even think he can tell me off anyway? He doesn't pay for the mic stands.

"Look, you don't have to ruin every little bit of technical equipment in every show. I know that you've been hitting the booze lately, but, just chill," my manager, Steve, is telling me. He walks off in a huff. What does he know? And how does he know that I had a few drinks last night. Okay, more than a few, but still…

As I walk towards my dressing room at the auditorium that my show is taking place in – it's the last night of the tour – my hair and make up person, Elisa, is in a flurry.

"Ugh! Where's the hair straighter? And someone has taken the pink mascara! I know you have! Don't try to deny it!"

"Jeez, Liss, chill. I'm sure you'll find them in time. I mean, the show isn't for 4 hours," I say.

"Don't tell me to chill. Some of us have work to do. We can't all be rock stars." I laugh as she runs off. And they think _I'm_ crazy.

My dressing room is pretty cool. They decorated it so nicely. It's all bright and shiny, with all my costumes on a rack in the corner. I make a lot of costume changes in the show, and one is even on stage behind a almost see through screen. It has a mirror with big light bulbs around it. The hair straightener is on the desk. I don't think Elisa checked very thoroughly in here. A list of all the songs I sing in the show are there as well, along with the list of people in the back-up band. It is here I find peace before the show.

"Miss Swan?" A voice from behind me says. Unfortunately, it's still Miss. I just can't seem to find a guy that isn't just in it for the sex or the money. I haven't found a guy that actually likes me for the rocker chick that I am. I turn around to find some guy standing in the doorway. He is pretty tall, I have to look up, and is balding on the back of his head. He doesn't look very well off, he is wearing ripped jean and a flannelette shirt. "I'm a big, big fan. I just want your autograph!" Um, okay. I'm used to getting asked for autographs, since I do my own shopping, but from obsessed teens, not middle aged men. How did he get back here anyway? Oh good, my assistant is here to take him away.

"Sorry, Bella, he pushed down the security guard," he says as he drags him toward the exit. The guy is still wanting my signature as he is getting dragged away. He practically screams it. Edward, my assistant, helps me with anything I don't want to do myself. He even cleaned my toilet once. I was surprised he didn't quit after that. He comes back slowly, his hair ruffled from the struggle with the deranged fan. Edward is quite a good looking boy, you know, for an assistant. He has bronze hair that sparkles in the sun. He's quite tall, although, everyone looks tall to me.

"There we go. All taken care of," he says as he comes within ear shot. I nod at him and go back into my dressing room. Elisa should be here any minute to start making me over. "Uh, I organised your costumes in the order in which you wear them during the show for you." I nod at him again. He looks disappointed. Maybe fishing for a compliment? Ha. I don't give out compliments. I just get them. Like with candy canes at Christmas parties.

"Could you get me a coffee from the Starbucks across the street? Skinny latte, no - "

"No sugar, I know," he drones. "I know just how you like it."

"And while your at it, a bagel as well." He sighs and walks off to get my order. Now, to prepare for the show.

I don't get nervous any more. Once you've been performing for a while, the nervousness before a show wears off. And when it's the last show of the tour, you just want to go home and never hear the songs again. But I've had fun on this tour. We started in New York, then over to L.A., then to Denver, then San Francisco, then over to Chicago, Seattle, Washington, Philadelphia, and finish in New York again. Sure, I may not be as famous as the Beatles were, but a _lot_ of screaming teens turned up to the shows. Even some adults. My thoughts are interrupted by Elisa and Mark knocking on the door. Mark is my costume person. 'Cause, you know, Elisa can't do everything, as much as she'd like to be able to.

"Are you going to admire yourself all day, or would you like to perform your last show, Miss. Swan?" Elisa asks. It is clearly a rhetorical question, because she picks up the hair straighter straight away. Mark starts filing through my costume rack for the right one. He doesn't have to search long.

"Did you put these in order, Liss?" He asks her as she is straightening my long dark hair.

"No…" she trails off.

"Oh, that was Edward. He just wanted to be helpful, like always," I remember.

"Huh. That was nice of him," Mark comments.

"I guess."

"You know, you should treat Edward with more respect. He does pretty much everything of yours. He gets your coffee, he cleans up your rubbish, he organises everything. And you don't pay him one compliment. You don't even thank him.," he complains. I ignore him. If he wants to bag me, then let him do so. I didn't say I would listen. "In fact, you don't thank anyone but the sponsors of the tour," he continues. I keep ignoring him. What does he know? He walks off, disgusted.

Well, speak of the devil… Edward walks in with my coffee and my bagel. I grab 10 dollars out of pocket and give it to him without a word. He gives me my meal and sighs. He seems to do a lot of that. Elisa flutters her eyelids at him and smiles flirtatiously. Good thing he has a girlfriend. Girls just can't resist him. I have met his girlfriend. She pretty, but, you know. He could do worse I suppose. I guess he misses her back in Los Angeles. He lives near my house just in case I need him for something. Like when my janitor went on holidays, and there was a, um, mess in my bedroom for the night before. I'm pretty sure he knew what had happened as well. I payed him double for that one. Anyway, Elisa knows full well he's taken, but a girl can dream right?

"Looking forward to going home, Edward?" she asks with a giggle. Ugh.

"Yeah, I guess. I do like travelling though," he says. That's a new one. He said to me that he hates being away from home. Meh.

"Yeah, some of the places we've been to really are beautiful though, huh?"

"Yeah. I just wish…" he trails off.

"What?" Liss prompts.

"Nothing. Don't worry 'bout it," he insists with a frown. Liss frowns too, but doesn't press it. I knew what he was going to say. He would have said _I just wish Jessica _(the girlfriend)_ was here too. _He doesn't like to talk about her though, and that's what stopped him from saying it. Trust me, when you hang around someone all the time, you tend to learn a lot about them. I even know his favourite colour. Mauve. Weird, I know. I start to eat my bagel and realise that there is cream in it. Idiot! Surely he knows that I'm lactose intolerant!

"There's cream in this," I say calmly.

"Uh-oh," Edward says. Well, at least he realises his mistakes quickly.

"Did you forget that I'm lactose intolerant? Do you know how sick this is going to make me?"

"I'm sorry Bella! I'm just really tired! I didn't see the label!" Ugh! I throw it at him, miss, and run off towards the bathroom to hurl. Yuck. I hate cream. It's the worst one. Cheese, I can deal with. Ice-cream, absolutely fine. It's cream that gets me. Edward's running off after me, shouting more apologies at me. Tired! Ha. He doesn't know the meaning of the word. I get the bathroom and chuck into the nearest toilet. Yuckies. I feel horrible. What a way to start the night. I hope I'm okay for the performance. But, knowing me, and my manager, I have to be on my death bed before I won't perform. I can hear Edward, still apologising.

"When we get back to L.A. I'll make it up to you? I'll… polish your Grammy collection? I'll…" He stops thinking of things to do when I come out of the bathroom.

"Don't worry about it. Just don't do it again." I feel like I'm scolding a child or something. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got a crowd to please," I smile.

Okay, I lied about being able to resist him. Of course I'm madly in love with him.


	2. But I Wanted Beer!

**Hey Guys! Okay, I'm new to FanFic, so please be nice in your reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, its characters, or plot lines.**

**xx **

**Chapter 2**

So I'm in love with my assistant. Big whoop. Nobody knows anyway. Well, I hope nobody knows. Jeez, that would be embarrassing. In fact, one of my singles I wrote is actually about him. Edward, that is. It's called "Too Bad" and it was number 1 in the charts for 6 weeks. But he doesn't know it was about him. As I sing it on stage, in front of thousands, I think about him. Just a little. Thankfully I know the song well enough that I can think about something else while singing it, like with the national anthem. I sing this song also as an encore, and go off stage for the final time. Best tour I've ever done. Everyone smiles at me as I walk through backstage. They've had fun too.

"Well done, Miss. Swan!" Mark hollers.

"Yeah, go Penny!" agrees Liss. Penny is my stage name. I came up with it because my last name is Swan, right? So a female swan is called a Pen, so I turned it into Penny. It makes sense in my mind.

"Nice job, kid," Steve says and gives me a pat on the back. Edward also gives me a smile. I smile back, because, you know, he's done heaps for me on this tour. I should thank him, like Mark said I should. But I'm not going to. If I have a change of heart now, he'll know something's up. I want to keep my secret love for him just that. A secret.

"Ugh, it's so good to be going home!" I comment as we are about to board the plane. 'We' being the people who live in LA, which consists of me, Edward, Liss and Steve. Mark lives in Orlando, so he gets a different plane. He has to ride with all the band members, who are very tired and very hung over from last night's afterparty.

"I agree. I miss Martha," Steve complains. Despite what you might think, Martha is not Steve's wife, or even girlfriend. Martha is his dog. Don't ask.

"Jeez, Steve. Stop pining for your mutt," I say jokingly.

"Which seat are sitting in?" Liss asks.

"Um, 7F," I answer. Of course we're near the front of the plane, in first class. A luxury every rock star must have. Once you've been in first class, you never go back.

"Okay, your sitting next to Edward then. He's in 7E," Liss adds with a smirk. And a trace of disappointment. Great. 5 and a half hours of small chat with Edward. Shouldn't be too bad. At least I get to look at him.

As we get on the plane, some people in Economy recognise me.

"Oh my gosh! It's Penny! Look!" Jeez. If anyone tries to hug me I think I'm gonna have to use these big security guys behind me. Why didn't I take the private plane? Oh that's right. My mother took it for a joy ride and never came back with it. My mother is not someone you'd typically want to have around. She's a bit… strange. I haven't seen her since. People tell me she's in Hawaii or something. My father is in prison for reasons I'd rather not mention. Growing up it was always my mom and me. I never really had a father figure around. My mom was rarely home, and she really didn't care about me in the first place. As I moved into my teenage years, my house became the home of parties and other booze related things. I never really got out of the habit. Hence why I am so hung over from last night. Luckily these seats are big enough that you can actually sleep in them.

"So… bet you're looking forward to seeing Jessica, huh?" I ask Edward, who has just sat down.

"Yeah. I miss her a lot." I can imagine. The stewardess comes past with the drinks tray.

"What would you like to drink ma'am?" she asks with a smile. No doubt she just wants to go home too.

"Beer, please," I order.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, you're already hung over from last night. Should you really be drinking?" Edward asks me with a father like tone to it.

"Sure I'm sure."

"Ma'am?" The stewardess asks again.

"Water please, for her," Edward answers before I have a chance to open my mouth. She sets the water bottle on the tray table and walks to the next row.

"I wanted beer," I complain.

"You shouldn't be drinking. You need sleep." He gets a pillow from under his seat and puts it behind my head. It's really cushy. It makes me want to sleep… I yawn. Edward laughs and mutters something that sounded like 'silly rock star', but I can't be sure, because I am half asleep. As I drift off into the land of the sandman, I hear my favourite sound in the world. His laughter.

"Miss. Swan? Do you think the tour was a success?"

"Is there any truth to the rumour that you and your manager are in a relationship?"

"Did the tour produce enough money for you?"

These questions are thrown at me almost every time I appear in public. Well, not every time… but at the airport I am flooded with reporters from every paper. They always ask about rumours that they found out on the internet. Of course all of these rumours are bullshit. Just some random making up stuff because they are jealous and couldn't fulfil their own dreams because they have no talent. Funny, they're just like reporters.

"Hey, piss off, you scum!" Steve yells as we step out of the airport.

"Is the limo here yet?" Edward asks. Yes, I take a limo. A rock star deserves no less.

"No. The driver screwed up and went to the wrong terminal. I told him he can go screw himself. So another one's coming," Steve says angrily.

"Aw, man," I complain. It's hot here, and there is nothing more I want that to be in an air-conditioned limo with lots of alcohol. Cold alcohol. Other than to elope with Edward. But the first one I made public.

"I know, I know. It sucks," Steve assures me.

"Yeah. Good thing I keep a spare," I say as I take a beer out of my bag. Well, you never know when you might need it. Like now. Edward looks at with a shocked look. I am about to open it when Edward snatches it from me and chucks it in a bin nearby. He frowns at me.

"Jeez, I knew you like beer, but you are on the edge of being an alcoholic! You have absolutely no idea how dangerous it can be do you?" Edward says. His outburst leaves me silent. Just like everyone else. They all stare at him with a 'you did not just do that' expression. I stare at blankly. He is puffing form his outburst. Once I have regained myself, I speak.

"It's not your decision to make," I say blandly. Thank god at that moment, the limo arrives. I get in first, followed by Steve and Elisa. Edward is still frozen. Eventually he realizes that people are staring at him, he gets in the front with the driver. Although I love Edward like my own heart (something I can not do without), he can get awfully angry sometimes. He'll go off at the littlest thing. Like me and my special relationship with alcohol. Ah, beer. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. See Edward rarely drinks, so he doesn't understand. I think about this on my way home. Elisa notices.

"Hey, don't let him get you down. You know how he gets about booze," she comforts.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just thinking. About stuff. Home."

"Me too. You know my cat? Yeah she's been fed by my next door neighbour. I sincerely hope Kitty isn't dead, because my neighbour's, like, crazy and she…" She continues to rant for a while.

Meanwhile, I continue to think.


	3. Breaking Up

**Hoped you liked the last chapter.**

**Okay so here's the next one!**

**R&R!**

**xx**

When I'm alone in my big, white house, it's kinda lonely. I don't have any pets, sadly, since I am allergic. Sure, I host high classed parties every now and then, but most of the time I'm lonely. I spend my day in the recording studio listening and recording my albums. Most of the time Steve is there, and of course Edward, so he can get my coffee etcetera, etcetera. But today he wasn't there when I got there. I voiced my concern to Steve.

"Hey, where's Edward today?" Steve looks puzzled as well.

"I don't know. He hasn't called me. He did look pretty bummed last night when we dropped him off though," he thinks to himself.

"Hmm… maybe I'll call him," I mumble.

"Good idea."

I had Edward's number on speed dial, for obvious reasons. He doesn't answer right away. I decide to give him 15 rings to answer. After the 12 ring (not like I was counting or anything) he finally picks up.

"Bella. Sorry I didn't call. It was a rough morning." He sounds horrible.

"Edward, you sound awful. What did you take last night?" I joke.

"I didn't take anything. I'm…. sick." He coughs, rather loudly into the phone to prove it. It sounds awfully fake to me.

"No you're not. You always call me when you're sick." I knew him well. I had worked with him for 4 years.

"Fine. I'll come in," he snaps.

"Then you can tell me what's really going on," I add.

"Sure, sure." He hangs up. Hmph.

"So, is he coming?" Steve asks.

"Um, yeah. He'll be here soon, I guess." He was in an unusually bad mood this sunny morning (as it always is in L.A.). Generally, when he was in a bad mood, it had something to do with Jessica.

Edward comes in 15 minutes later. He had dark shadows under his eyes, and his hair was a mess. His expression was blank, completely dead. He looked worse than he sounded. I stared with shock. This was not his usual self, not by a long shot. This was a man who had been dumped.

I knew how this felt. Just about everyone does. When you truly, deeply, love someone, and they suddenly get up and leave, well. It's almost unbearable. You lose sleep, you lose hope, and sometimes, even a part of yourself. Never had I seen Edward this miserable.

"Oh, Edward, I'm so sorry." I was. I really was. I knew exactly how he felt, even though I'm sure he would tell me I didn't. He gives me a look I can only describe as agonizing pain. I wanted to hug him, but of course I can't.

"It's not your fault," he chokes.

"Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes it's good to vent."

"Well…"

"You don't have to if you don't want to," I add, just to be on the safe side.

"I know. Yeah, I guess I could 'vent', as you call it," he smiled. I smiled back. "So, I got out of the limo at my house, grabbed my bags and headed inside. Of course she was waiting for me. I was expecting a hug and a kiss, but she didn't make any move when I opened my arms. Her expression was blank, and I couldn't understand it. It was like she wasn't Jess anymore. We just stared at each other for a long moment, when finally she spoke.

'We need to talk,' was all she said." Ah, there is not a more fateful line in the English language as 'we need to talk'. He continues. "I dropped my arms then, and moved toward her. I asked her what was going on, and she said that she thought I was spending too much time with you." He looked up to see my expression then; I kept my face cool and collected. "Then she asked me if I loved you, and I said I didn't. She didn't believe me, and called me a liar. She said she could see it in my eyes when I looked at you. I begged her to see sense, that it wasn't true. But she kept saying 'words, just words' and pushing me back. So I gave up. I knew I wasn't making her happy, so I just picked up my bags and left. It killed me to do it. I got a cab to the nearest hotel and stayed there for the night. Not that I got any sleep." At that last bit he bit down on his lip, and I could see the moisture brooding in his eyes.

"Oh, Edward." Screw social rules! I hug him tight. He seems very surprised by this unexpected embrace, but hug back. And I am glad. He really needed a hug right now. He may be my P.A., but he's my friend too. Now more than ever.

"Thanks," he says, and brakes away. "You're right, it helps to vent." Then I remember the part about the hotel.

"You don't have anywhere to stay?" I worry.

"Not really. My closest relatives are in Seattle."

"Why don't you stay with me for a bit? Just until you find a place to stay?" I knew this would be awkward, but it was better for him than no place to stay at all. He looks alarmed, but then he thinks about it. It's a big house, with a lot of bedrooms. We wouldn't even have to share the same kitchen.

"I guess that would be okay, just until I get back on my feet," he murmurs.

"Okay. It's settled. Now, we need to get you some chocolate." At that he laughs. But it isn't the same kind of laugh. It's still pained.

I have a lot of work to do.


	4. Paparazzi

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I didn't get my computer over the holidays! **

**Okay, chapter 4!**

**R&R!**

Okay, so I knew that Edward had broken up with his girlfriend. I knew that he was saying at my house (gulp). And I knew that he was depressed, broken and miserable. Okay, here comes Operation Fix Up. First, I have to do everything myself, and not put pressure on him to do them. Second, I have to show him I was his true friend. Then, hopefully, he will be happy again, and realise that he belongs with me. Well, it's not likely, but it's worth a shot. I have to at least cheer him up. So this morning, after our heart to heart talk, I got my own coffee. The Starbucks was only 2 minutes down the road, walking. When I got back, everyone looked at me like I was Michael Jackson. They stared to no end. Even Edward did.

"What?" I ask. What was wrong with getting my own coffee?

"Nothing…" they all mumble in unison and looked away. In my peripheral vision I saw Edward smile to himself. Step One: Complete. He had less pressure on him now. Jeez, all that walking made me tired. Do I really have to keep this up everyday?

"Uh, Bella, I want to run _Where's My Prince_ again with you. There's a few stuff ups on the band's part, OK?" Steve tells me. I walk into the recording studio where my band is waiting. My band is awesome. They're all experts on whatever instrument they play, and the bassist actually played for Green Day a couple of times when Mike Dirnt was sick. Serious stuff. Anyway, they rock. They're in practically all of my songs, apart from the acoustic ones, which I play myself. It's not expert, but it's satisfactory.

This song is very close to my heart, I wrote it on Valentine's Day, when of course, I had no one.

_So where's my prince they promised me_

_Carry me away_

_To a castle on a hill_

_To a better day_

So I finish the song and Steve gives a thumbs up. Sweet. Now I can go have lunch.

"I'm going out for lunch. Back in an hour," I announce. Edward stands up.

"I'll come with you," he says. That was unexpected. I nod and walk out without a second glance. I don't want him getting wise on me.

My favourite place to eat is 10 minutes walk from the studio, not that far from Starbucks. It's called Puccini's, and it's the most delicious Italian place in L.A. As far as I know. Anyway, they make the most scrumptious Napoli pasta. I'm vegetarian, so it is essential in terms of Italian food.

So Edward and I walk in, and I automatically sit at my favourite booth. Edward sits on the other side of me.

"So are you gonna pick up all your stuff from your hotel, or do want one of my attendants to do it?" I ask him, referring to his re-location to my place.

"Oh, right. Um, I guess I'll do it. I mean, its not that much. Most of the stuff is still at… her place." Wow, he can't even say her name. I can't believe she's caused him so much pain. If I ever see her again, I swear I'll punch that bitch right in her little puckered face. Oh, that's a terrible thing to say…

"Um, you can have your pick of the rooms. There's like, 10 of them," I scoff. He laughs, but its not right. It doesn't reach his eyes. "So how are you going, since our little talk?"

"Well, I'm going ok I guess. I mean, I'm not crying or anything…" I smile. He kinda smiles back, but, again, its not right.

"Well, that's good." The waitress comes up to us at this time takes one look at Edward, and totally changes her attitude. She puts on a daggy smile, flutters her eyelids, and twirls a strand of hair on her finger.

"What would you like today?" she says in a voice that I suppose to her sounds alluring. I notice she only says this to Edward. Doesn't she know who I am? Ridiculous.

"Nothing for me," he says. What? People with severe romantical (A/N. yes it's a word. I made it up.) problems need food. I gave him a look that said all this.

"Are you sure?" the waitress presses.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well, I'll have the Napoli with vegetable tortellini," I say, bringing her back from her fantasy.

"Whatever." And with a flick of her head, she stalks off, wiggling her hips unnecessarily. Bitch.

It was kind of awkward sitting there in silence with the guy I love. Especially since he doesn't look at me for like, 10 minutes. And that was when the waitress came back with my meal, making more attempts to flirt with him, to no avail. I gave her a dirty look as she passed. As I ate, he was playing with his watch, taking it off, and then putting it on again, staring at it. I thought I saw a tear, but then again…. I took me a while to realise that it was obviously a watch that Jessica had given him. It must be engraved on the back or something.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" I say, just to break the tension in the air.

"Not really."

"Then why did you come with me to lunch?"

"I don't know." What? How can you voluntarily go to lunch with your boss, who just happens to be relatively famous, and who you've had a DNM with about your break-up earlier this morning, and not know why???? How aggravating.

So I finished my meal and called for the cheque. The same waitress comes back, unfortunately. She gives me the cheque and I pay in cash. I give her no tip. She looks at it, and glares.

"There's no tip," she says angrily.

"Correct."

"Why?" Her glare intensifies.

"Because you've been nothing but rude, you've paid no attention to me, and you've overcharged me by $10," I say, pointing to the bill. "I bet you don't even know who I am."

"Why would I?" Out of nowhere, the paparazzi storm in. How did they track me down? Ugh! I hate them, but they will exaggerate my point nicely.

"Penny! Penny! Is it true that you have a new man? Can you tell us about your alleged drug addiction?" Oh crap, where'd they get that one from? Anyway, the look on the waitress was priceless.

I take Edward's hand and run the hell out of there. The staff were helpful in letting us through the back door. I didn't even check if they were following us. Oh my god, Edward's hand is sooooooooo soft… Ok, concentrate. Keep running. I look back and Edward is running too, a huge smile on his face, matching mine. A few of the photographers got through, but I don't care. We sprint to the studio, go through the back door and lock it. We are both breathing heavily. Hmm, maybe I should go to the gym more….

We turn around and everybody is looking at us with the most ridiculous look on their face. We look at each other and burst into laughter.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Edward is carrying like, 20 bags. Ok, maybe its like 4, but still.

"Yes, for the last time, I'm fine," he says with a smile.

"I'll show you to your room. It's probably much better than your hotel room." I go up the spiral staircase and go to the biggest room I can think of, apart from mine. The master bedroom on the second floor. It has a massive king size bed, with drapes, and its own full size bathroom. It's quite cool.

"Here you are," I say as I open the door. He looks in and smiles.

"Your right. It is better than my hotel room."

"Oh good. Do you want anything, like a drink, or a snack or -- "

"I'm fine. You really need to stop babying me you know…"

"I'm not babying you!" I say, getting defensive now, but in a playful way. "I'm just being a good host by making sure you don't go hungry."

"I'm fine, really. It's ok," he says, smiling that gorgeous smile of his. It knocks the breath out of me. I have to shake my head to regain my concentration.

"Ok. Well, I'll be downstairs if you need me," I smile. I go downstairs to watch a bit of TV and grab a cup of tea on the way. I make it slowly, trying no to think of the gorgeous guy just upstairs.

My sofa is my second bed. I love it. It's cushy and warm and soft. I could sleep on it all night. Yes…. sleep on it all… night… *yawn*.

"Bella? Bella? Wake up. Come on, you have work to do, songs to record…" Huh? What? Oh crap, I fell asleep! Ugh. I feel my head on the pillow. Pillow? Why am I in bed? I specifically remember being on the sofa. Edward! I hope he's ok. I open my eyes, and see him right there, trying to revive me. Whoa.

"Uh, hi there," I say sleepily. He jerks back, as if not to scare me. Either that or I scared him... "How did I get here?"

"Oh, you were fast asleep on the sofa, so I carried you up."

"Oh. You did? Thanks."

"No problem. Anyway, as I was saying, you should probably get up. Weren't you going to record that new song today? Oh what was it called…"

"_Highway Psycho?_" I recall.

"Yeah, that was it. Strange song. Why did you write it?" he asks.

"Oh, because one day when I was driving, this lunatic almost runs into me, stops his car, gets out, and asks for my autograph. I told him to piss off. Well, the language was a bit more colourful than that, but you get the drift." I hated that guy. I wrote it angrily like, that night.

"I see. Well, come on. Up you get."


	5. Something In Commom

_Just a rose, that's all I ask_

_Tell me you love me, take off that mask_

_Look deep down inside you and bring that out_

_Don't make sad, don't make me pout_

"Okay, that was great Bella. Thanks. Did you want any effects on the guitar?"

"No, thank you. I like the natural sound."

Well, that went well. I had just recorded a song I wrote about a week ago. I was inspired by a TV show. The girl on the show was frustrated with her boyfriend, who wouldn't say he loved her. Yep, that's about the extent of my inspirations.

"Um, Bella, can I talk to you for a minute?" Steve asks me as I walk out of the studio.

"Sure. What did I do this time?" I ask. Whenever Steve wants to talk to me, it's almost always bad.

"Oh, nothing, I just want to clear something up. Um, well… we all see how you're more chummy with Edward at the moment. I mean, you invited him to stay at your place, you have lunch together, you seem to be with him all the time… and… I've seen the way you look at him. We all have."

"Yeah well…."

"Let me finish. You love him. Don't you?" he asks. Great. I've been sprung. Oh god, I hope Edward hasn't noticed too! That would be my ultimate hell. Him knowing that I loved him, while he thinks I'm a freak and would never ever think of dating him in his life and beyond. Ok, maybe that's a bit dramatic.

"You caught me," I say, hanging my head in shame.

"I knew it. Maybe you should tell him how you - "

"No. No way. Just no. I can't do that. I can't. He just broke up with his girlfriend of three years a week ago. He has enough on his plate as it is. Do you realise what it would do to him? Are you crazy? What is wrong with you? I don't want to destroy him internally."

"Ok, I get it. I'm going for a coffee. You want one?" Steve says, getting up in a hurry.

"Yes, double latte." He walks off. Tell him how I feel. What is he, insane? Ridiculous. Maybe I should write a song about it. I pick up my guitar and start plucking away.

"Bella? Here's your coffee. And you might want to see this." Steve plonks a magazine in front of me. I pick it up, and there's pictures of me and Edward at Puccini's, and us running hand in hand out the back door. The title reads: _Penny's New Bird_. What? Ugh, those reporters will make up anything. I hope Edward doesn't see this. Better keep it to myself. I stuff it in my bag just before Edward walks in. I sip my coffee to look normal, you know, nothing out of place, and drink too much, and burn my tongue. Owwwwwww.

"Crap! Hot, hot, hot!" Only because my tongue is numb, it came out more like 'hoth'. Edward rolls his eyes.

"I'll get you a glass of water." He comes back 10 seconds later with a big glass of water, like he said. He gives it to me and I drink half of it in one breath.

"Thankths." Ugh, I sound so retarded. Edward smiles.

"No problem." He shakes his head at me. "How did you manage to do that?"

"I havth no idea." He laughs again. Then he looked past me, and reached around me to my bag. He pulled out the magazine. Craaaaaap.

"What's this?" He starts reading it. His face got more and more irritated with each paragraph. "This is ridiculous! Who do they think they are, making up these horrible rumours? What the hell??"

"Jeez, calm down. It's just a magazine article. They've written far worse things about me than that, believe me," I reassure him. I think back to when they thought I was having a massive break down, when I was actually sneezing. Fun times. Edward picks up the magazine, and rips the article right out of the pages. He stomps off and dramatically throws the page in the bin, and walks out the door.

Jeez, melodramatic much? He knows it's not true, so what's the big deal? Well, I guess he's made his position clear. He really doesn't like the idea of us. I'm guessing he'd rather stick needles in his eye than be with me. 'Cause that's going to make my day…

Later, at home, I confront him about it. I figure it would be a good opportunity because he'll have had time to chill, have some dinner etc… He walks into the big lounge room for a coffee, I assume, while I'm watching TV.

"Hey, Edward, why were you so angry before? About that magazine article?" I ask casually.

"Oh, um, I don't know. I just not used to the idea of people writing things about me, I guess," he mumbles. I look back at him; he is expressionless.

"Because it really is nothing. Seriously, they have concocted some way worse things than this. There was this one time, where they thought I was having a massive breakdown, and - "

"Look, I'm really tired, I'm just going to go to bed, ok?"

"Oh, ok. But it's only 9:30," I say, pointing to the clock.

"Yeah, I know. Not all of us stay up all night partying…" he snickers.

"Hey! I don't party every night… just on special occasions…"

"Sure. What was the last one you went to? Snoop Dog's party for his new car?"

"Shut up," I fluster. He laughs and heads up stairs. Gosh, he looks good in jeans… I shake my head to eliminate the fantasy. Thank goodness he isn't a mind reader. That'd be pretty cool actually, to be able to hear what Steve's _actually _thinking as I sing my songs. Or what Edward thinks of them.

I head up stairs as well. Hey, I hear music… has Edward got his iPod speakers on? Well whoever the artist is, he's a damn good singer. Oh, that reminds me, I better get back my iPod before he goes to sleep. I walk over to his bedroom and open the door. He knows it's me, why bother knocking? What I see amazes me. Edward is sitting on his bed, guitar in hand, manuscript book and pencil close by, working out chords. Oh my god, he's writing songs. The person singing was him. He is looking up at me with the most surprised look on his face. Oh dear, I seem to have blown his secret hobby.

"You write songs? And play guitar? _And_ sing?" I ask rhetorically.

"Well, yeah… I'm not very good at it…"

"Well, let me be the judge of that. What have you got there…" I snatch his book away before he has time to blink. I read it, and it's… amazing. Much, much better than anything I've written, or ever will write, or anyone will ever write. I widen my eyes at the complicated melody, complete with piano accompaniment. He has even written a cello part. Harmonies!

"I never knew you were musical!" I read it over again. Even the anacrusis is complicated. (**A/N: An anacrusis is like, an intro to a piece of music, and is before everything. It's usually only a few bars long, or even one bar.)** "I have to cover one of your songs. Or even better, you could record one! You could get a record deal anywhere, I swear." I am imagining him on the stage. He would fit right in there. Muso hat and all…

"Whoa, hang on just a sec. Maybe I don't want all that. Maybe I'd rather be normal. I mean, the magazine thing just proves it. It sucks being a celebrity. I'd rather do without all the hype," he says, grabbing the book back, just as I am about to turn the page.

"But your talent deserves to be out there making people happy. You could give any one of those hot new artists a run for their money, myself included." I mean that. I really do. After what I have just read, he could have given Beethoven some competition.

"I'll think about it. Now may I enquire as to the reason you come barging into my room at 10 'o clock at night?"

"Oh, right. Um, I'd like my iPod back, please." My head is still spinning from his music.

"It's already in your room, charging in the dock," he says, looking down at his guitar.

"Oh. Thanks. We'll talk in the morning about your little secret talent. Not that it's much of a secret anymore." I smile and walk out, closing the door behind me. I don't stop smiling for a long time, either. I can't believe he's a muso! Imagine, we could do a duet, or he could do one by himself. I wouldn't mind donating a track for him. Just to hear that voice, dude, I would donate my entire album. He has got a point about the fame thing though. It does suck sometimes. The press, the pressure, people hassling you wherever you go. But then there's the fans, the music, the money (although that's not what I'm in it for. Mostly.), the clothes, the cars, people waiting on you hand and foot, the tours, etc. There are more pros then there are cons. I'll make him see that.

Just as soon as I tell everyone about his talent. He'll sing to Steve, Steve will go nuts, insist he records a song, bada bing bada boom, instant superstar. It will make him happy, even if he doesn't think it will. Happy = goal accomplished. Yes, I'm still keeping to those goals. They are very important.

I am still smiling the next morning.

"Morning," he says as he walks past my bathroom. Oh my god, don't hyperventilate. He is in nothing but a towel. He must have just come out of the shower. I find it hard to keep brushing my teeth as I consider that thought. I'm such a pervert… Oh, better answer.

"Morning! So about this music thing of yours…" I press. He 'aint getting out of it yet.

"Mmm…?" he answers.

"Well, I was thinking you could sing for Steve, and he could hook you up with an agent and everything, and you could record and stuff…"

"Bella, I really don't want to. I just want it to be a hobby, and nothing else. I don't want it to get out of hand," he says, a little louder so I can hear, seeing as he's in his room, a little way down the hall. Probably changing… Bella! Concentrate!

"It won't, I promise. Well, if you don't want to do that, then maybe we could do a duet?" He makes me jump as he answers, because he is now in the doorway.

"Well, depends. If my name's going to on it, then no." In the mirror, I notice that he is still shirtless. Dude, how could I not notice? Ok, I really need to stop looking at him. But it's so hard!

"You want to do it anonymously?" I ask, rising my mouth. I turn around and he now has a shirt on. Dang.

"Yeah, basically, if I have to at all…"

"Oh, you do," I threaten in the meanest voice I can muster.

"I was afraid you might say that," he half laughs. I laugh too. "Well, you're going to have to get dressed if you want me to sing at the studio. I don't think Steve would be very pleased if you turned up in your pyjamas," he says, making me feel self-conscious as he looks at my holey PJ pants. I could buy new ones, but these are comfortable. So what if they have a few holes, no one's going to see them. Except Edward, I suppose…

"Right. Might be a good idea." I turn about, back into my room and shut the door. Part of me wants to leave it open, but that would be just plain slutty. After I'm all dressed and ready to go, he gives me one last look that would make any girl's heart jump.

"I'm going to regret this, I know it," he mutters under his breath.

"No, you won't. You'll be fine. You could charm anyone with that voice." Oh no, have I said too much? Luckily, he smiles and brushes it off.

"Thanks. Well, let's go then. Off to tempt fate."

**Hope you liked it! Feel free to ask me about any of the musical terms in this chapter. :)**

**Just hit the little green review button down there…**


	6. Talent

**I have been informed that the review button is not green anymore. My bad… Anyways, here's the next chapter. Enjoy :)**

"Do I really have to do this?" Edwards asks for the millionth time.

"Yes, you do! Or I'll never, ever talk to you again." It's an empty threat, there's no way I would last a minute.

"Fine. If he doesn't like it, I'll hate you forever."

"He'll love it. And no, you won't."

"Good point. It'd kind of be hard to hate the person I live with. That wouldn't really work out," he says. We are sitting on the big couch at the door to the recording studio, waiting for Steve. I decide to look at his guitar, just because it's something to do. I open the case and take it out. It's very pretty, probably cost him a small fortune. I pluck at the strings.

"Ouch. Jeez, when was the last time you tuned this thing?" At least 3 of the strings are dangerously out of tune.

"I can't remember. I don't hear much difference." Bloody hell, how could you not hear the difference? They're different notes then what they should be! I start to tune it by ear. It's not hard for me, all my music teachers said I have perfect pitch.

"You can tune it by ear?" he says, like it is some great feat.

"Yeah. It's not that hard. I mean, when you have perfect pitch…" He laughs.

"Perfect pitch, eh? Well let's test this. Where's a keyboard?" I raise an eyebrow.

"In the storage room, near reception. Why?"

"You'll see," he mutters ominously. He gets up and goes toward reception. He comes back a couple of minutes later with the keyboard. Dude, he can carry it by himself? That things weighs close to 50 kilos (**A/N:** that's about 110 lbs). He also has all the cords wrapped around his hand. It takes him no time to plug it in and sit it on his lap.

"Sing a C," he insists.

"Um, ok." I am still confused, but I sing a C anyway. He plays a C on the keyboard. They're the same pitch. What do you know, I got it right.

"Ok, now a G." I do what he asks, and he does the same thing, plays it on the piano, and I get it right. This goes on for a while. He asks me every note he could think of. I get them all right of course.

"Told you so," I say in a matter of factly voice. He smiles. I smile back. For a moment we just stare at each other, neither of us could look away. I never noticed how pretty his eyes were until now…

At that point someone clears their throat. I look up and Steve is standing the door way, one eyebrow raised. Oops.

"May I ask what you're doing?" he asks. We both look at each other.

"No," we say in unison. Steve laughs.

"Fair enough. Well, come on, what did you want to show me?" This is it. Edward is going to blow his mind. Edward looks at me with a scared look on his face.

"You'll be fine," I whisper. "Well, last night I discovered something about Edward that no one knew. He's a muso," I beam.

"Really?" Steve poses.

"Yep. And a good one too." I can't stop smiling, just the thought of singing with him…

"Well, I guess I'll have to hear for myself. What are you going to sing?" Steve asks, intrigued now.

"Ummm, well, I thought I'd do a cover… _The Shake_ by Kisschasy?"

"Oh, ok. I've never heard of them before…"

"They're an Australian band," he states as he walks into the studio, me trailing. He sits down on one of the stools, as we go into the booth, where all the electronics are. You can't see people in here form the studio. That's good, because it feels like you don't have an audience.

"When you're ready, Edward," Steve says into the special microphone, which allows you to hear from inside the booth. Edward let's out a deep breath, and starts to play. He plays so much better than I do. Then he starts to sing with that heavenly voice of his.

_The scratching of paper and pen_

_reminds me of a song I wrote two years back.  
I remember each and every line_

_like a photo glued to the lids of my eyes._

The shiver of my wheezing chest

_reminds me of the way I felt two years back.  
And as we lose all track of time_

_I feel her breath like ice on the tip of my spine._

The shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep.  
The shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep.

I wait for the bed to get warm

_as my eyes adjust to the darkest light form.  
And as I start to drift away_

_you're the shake that pulls me back to this state._

The shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep.  
The shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep, the shake before I sleep.

He plays the last chord and smiles. Obviously pleased with himself. As he bloody well should be. Steve is speechless. He hasn't even moved. I notice a few of the other staff are watching from the window. One of them has her jaw dropped. I smile proudly. I discovered that genius. Edward gets up and walks into the booth. He's still smiling. Steve is smiling too.

"Umm… WOW," he stutters. "We have got to get you recording something. Do you write songs?"

"Yeah, kind of… I'm not very good at it, and I've only written a few," he lies.

"Bull. I looked at your songs. They are freaking awesome. Much better than I could write," I challenge. He gives me a nervous look.

"Well, you didn't look at all of them…" he mutters. Well, yeah, because you snatched the book away from me before I could look at them.

"Whatever. Look, the fact is, you're more talented than anyone I've ever seen before. And I'm not just saying that."

"Sure, sure. I'm going to go get coffee now. Wanna come?" he asks me.

"Of course. I'll go get my jacket," I reply. I walk out of the booth, expecting Edward to follow, but he doesn't. I'm sure Steve just wants to talk to him some more about a record deal or something. While I'm walking to the lobby, I think about when we ran away from Puccini's hand in hand. Ever since I met him I've dreamt about holding his hand. I smile as I think about how perfectly our hands fit together. I sigh. That very same hand on my shoulder startles me. I jump out of my fantasy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Edward says. I turn around and can't help but dive straight into those gorgeous eyes of his. I shake my head to regain my concentration.

"It's ok. Let's go."

"Hey, I need to ask you a favour," Edward says in a apprehensive tone. We are walking back from Starbucks, coffee cups in hand.

"Fire away."

"I still have some stuff back at… Jessica's place, and I need to move it. Could you help?" he pleads.

"Of course I'll help. I mean, I'm not the strongest person in the world, so if it's heavy lifting your after, I won't be much help, but the little stuff I can do," I rant.

"It's just CD's and things; little stuff." He smiles his glorious smile of his. It leaves me flustered. I should really start paying more attention, because Edward is now waving hand in my face. "Bella? Earth to Bella?"

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What?"

"I'll say. You completely zoned out. I said we should head over there now if we want to be done by today., okay?" he says again, apparently.

"Um, okay. I'll just call the limo then, I guess."

"No need. It's just around the corner," he chuckles.

"Right. I knew that," I stutter. He touches my cheek lightly and says;

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." I frown, and he laughs. "Come on then," he says, taking my hand.

I've only ever been to his house once before, to drop something off. But it looked vastly different to now. The house looked emptier than before. And it looked emptier, it didn't have that feeling of warmth, and family. Now it was just a house, with some stuff in it. Edward directed me to where his stuff was. It was already in boxes. I guess Jessica took the liberty of chucking all his stuff in boxes. We started to carry the boxes to the curb. Two boxes later I realised Edward wasn't following me anymore. I went back inside and found him in the living room. He was standing by the window, near a shelf. It took me a minute to realise that the shelf had a photo frame on it. The photo in it was a picture of him and Jessica. He was just, staring at it. There were no tears, no nothing. I clear my throat.

"Are you okay, Edward?' I ask. He turns to look at me, and the Edward I know returns. He smiles at me. I smile back.

"Fine. Thanks for helping me with this junk."

"No problem. Happy to help. But there's still more boxes," I remind him. I pick up a box, and so does he. He walks out to the curb, and I start to, but a book falls out of the box I'm carrying. I put it down to grab the book. I notice that it's a manuscript book. Must be one of Edward's old ones. Well, he said I hadn't seen his other songs, so I might as well have a look. I flip the book open and have a read. Of course, the melodies are brilliant. I read the lyrics as well, and they send a shiver up my spine. The lyrics are all about love. Love songs? I didn't know he was that deep. I read the lyrics to one of the simpler songs, and go completely pale, I could feel it. The title is called plainly, "Bella". Oh my God, he wrote a song about me. Since when? I look outside at Edward and back to the book, over and over again. No, maybe he just wrote a random song and called it Bella for some random reason which I don't know. Yeah, that's it. He probably didn't even know me when he wrote it. Oh crap, he's coming back.

"You need help with that box?" he asks as I quickly shut the book and put it back on top of the stuff, where it fell from.

"No, no. I'm fine…"

"You look a little flushed, are you sure you're okay?" he persists.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just fine," I say, gritting my teeth so I don't explode.

"Okay," he says, hands up in the air.

A song. About me. I keep telling myself that it's not about me. It must be about another Bella or something. But I can't help not ignoring the signs. Oh god, this is madness. I can't just ask him about it, because he'll get all defensive and stuff, and then demand to know why I was looking through his stuff. Oh, crap here he comes.

"Hey Edward. Oh, hey, have you done any house hunting?" I ask, as casual conversation.

"Umm, yeah, a little bit. There's nothing really in my price range that close to here though…" he mumbles.

"Oh. Fair enough. You want a coffee?" I ask him.

"Yeah, sure. Black, two - "

"Two sugars, I know." He smiles. He heads to the TV. I start to make the coffee and think about some of the future songs I might write. I absently mindedly look at the calendar. Oh my God! My birthday is next week! Wow, that snuck up on me. I'll have to have a party, obviously. I _think_ my house can hold more than 100 people… The real issue is whether to invite Justin Beiber or not, because he's underage… hmmm. Edward interrupts my thinking when he comes into the kitchen.

"Bella, it's been 20 minutes, are you okay? Do you need any help?" he asks with real sincerity. 20 minutes? Wow, time can really fly when your thinking about stuff.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my birthday, and how it's next week."

"I was wondering when you might remember. I was going to say something, but I figured you could probably remember your own birthday, so I didn't."

"Of course you would remember my own birthday better than me," I snort. He laughs.

"So are you going to have a party? Stupid question. Of course you are. Who are you going to invite?" he says wryly.

"Um, I' not sure yet. As many people as I can! I was just thinking about inviting Justin Beiber, but since he's underage, I don't know."

"Pshh. He's probably done things that 16-years-olds would dream of. I'm sure he'll fit right in with all your alcohol buddies. But if you don't want to invite him, I have no problem with that."

"Good point. You don't like him?" I guess.

:No, definitely not. Did you hear about when he went over to Australia, and about 100 12-year-old girls stampeded the place where he stayed? People got injured. I think there is way too much hype surrounding him. Anyways, about that coffee…" he reminds me.

"Oh, right. I'll be there in a minute," I say, going back to the kettle.

"This movie is crap. What else is on?" Edward and I are sitting on the sofa watching _Love Actually_ on TV.

"Crap? Please. You just don't understand the magic of Hugh Grant." He starts to grab the remote from the other side of me, but I grab it and hold it out as far away from me as possible, but he still reaches for it. I start to get up, but he pulls me down and we end up in a heap on the floor. He are laughing and breathing hard. Then our eyes meet and we stop laughing. I decided this would be a good time to tell him.

"Edward, I have to tell you something." He looks puzzled, but makes not move to get up from under me. He didn't say anything, so I kept going. "While we were moving you stuff yesterday, one of your manuscript books fell out of the box. I had a look and I… I saw a song that you wrote… and I think it was about me…." I look at him to gauge his reaction.

"You looked through my song books?" He looks angry now.

"It fell out of the box and I though there's no harm in that, because you said that I hadn't seen all of your songs - " I start to panic.

"I can't believe you would violate my privacy like that. I don't go looking through your stuff! I don't open your song books and demand to know what they mean! I can't believe you!" he pushes me off, gets up, and storms off to his room, I assume. Now I've done it. I knew I shouldn't have told him. I get up and slump on the sofa. I sigh. I think I'll just go to bed.

**Don't worry this feud won't last forever! Now the next chapter is possibly going to be the party, so I need some good songs to put in there. Review if you have an idea. Heck, review anyways!**

**p-sout**


	7. Sisters, Celebrities and Boyfriends

It's been almost a week since we've really talked. The only contact we've had is to say 'sorry' when we almost crashed into each other, and to him asking if he would get a day off soon. That's it. We live in the same house and we barely talk to each other. I've tried to say sorry a million times, but he ignores me. He hates me, I know it. The next morning after I told him, I went up to his room (the door was open), and tried to explain, but he shut the door in my face. I'm surprised he hasn't moved out.

It is the day before my birthday, and the whole of L.A. is buzzing about my party. Of course it's going to be wild. I invited practically all of the A-list celebrities I could think of. I invited all the staff from my tour as well. I want to see Elisa again. I pretty sure Edward will sneak out for the night; he doesn't like parties much. Why would he hang around anyway? He wouldn't go to a party for someone he hates.

Anyway, I have just recorded one of my latest songs and am walking out of the studio. People smile, as they do when I walk by, and I see a face that I haven't seen for a long, long time. My sister, Alice is in the lobby! Oh my god! Alice is here! She sees me and squeals. She runs over to me and gives me the biggest hug I've ever gotten. It almost knocks me off my feet.

"Bella! Bella, Bella, Bella!" she giggles. 'It's been so long!"

"Only since my last birthday sis!" I laugh. "How are you? And Jasper?"

"I'm fine, he's fine. We're all fine! But how are you?" she asks. I pause for a minute while I evaluate my life at the moment.

"I could be better…" I finally decide to say.

"What's wrong? Come on, it's your birthday! You should be jumping for joy!" To make her point, she jumps several times.

"We're not all bags of energy like you, Alice. It's a long story, anyway."

"I like long stories. Come on, we can talk it out over coffee. Where's the nearest Starbucks?" I smile. Alice is as obsessed with coffee as I am. I take her hand and lead her out the door to the Starbucks.

"So, you and this Edward guy aren't talking now?" We are sitting at a table at Starbucks, something I usually don't do (I usually just grab the coffee and run). I told Alice everything about the… incident.

"Yeah, kind of… I think we spoke, maybe twice?" Alice shakes her head.

"Bella. You want my advice? Too bad, you're getting it anyway. I think that Edward just needs some time. It will blow over. I can tell just by what you've told me that he really doesn't hate you. Quite the opposite. I think he's in love with you." It takes me a little while to notice that my jaw is dropped. Is she serious?

"You kidding right?" I ask in disbelief.

"Do I look like I'm kidding, Bella?" To be honest, she doesn't, but I still don't believe her. "I know you don't believe me, but seriously, would he write a song about you if he didn't? That stuff comes from the heart, I can tell you that. And by the way, I think you reciprocate the feelings. You smiled and blushed every time you said his name," she states. I blush, to my embarrassment. Alice smiles, her point exaggerated.

"Yeah, well, meh. There's no chance at us anyways. Let's move on shall we? My party is tomorrow night." I change the topic.

"Oh yeah! By the way, I'm inviting myself, whether you like it or not, just so you know." She pokes her tongue out at me.

"Oh, I know. You'll help me set up, won't you?" I ask her. It's practically a rhetorical question, I already know the answer.

"Of course, sis. What time do you want me to swing by?"

"Are you staying in a hotel?" I frown.

"Yes… why?" she questions.

"I won't hear of it. You're coming to stay with me. I won't have you stay in a filthy hotel."

"Oh, but won't it be a little crowded? I mean, Edward and you, and me… and I'll get in the way…" she worries.

"No you won't. Believe me, Edward's doing his best to avoid me. And it won't be crowded. My house is fit to home twenty people. Three is hardly a crowd, no matter what a stupid saying says," I go on.

"Well, okay. But I'll feel bad about it."

"Don't worry," I reassure her.

"So I was thinking we could have the DJ over there, and like, the food table over there, and the downstairs bathtub can be brought over, and that's where the drinks will go…" I plan. Alice mumbles in agreement.

"Bella?" That voice is my oxygen; I haven't heard it in so long, I almost suffocated.

"Edward? I'm in here," I say a bit louder so he can hear me from the hallway.

"I saw extra bags in the hallway and I was wondering if there was someone staying…" He then sees Alice. "Who's this Bella?"

"Edward, this is my sister Alice. Alice, this is Edward."

"Hi," Alice says. They shake hands. Edward smiles politely.

"So are staying for Bella's birthday?' Edward asks.

"Yes, that's right," Alice confirms. Edward nods. There is a minute of silence, it is very awkward. Edward then clears his throat.

"Um, I'll be in my room." Edward walks up the stairs, and I hear him close his door. I sigh.

"That's the most we've spoken all week," I grumble.

"Don't give up on him yet. He'll get over it," she reassures me.

"Let's hope so. I really can't live with him hating me. You have no idea how much it's killing me." Alice pats my back in understanding.

"Wow, this party is awesome! I love it, and I'm not even drunk yet!" I shout over the noise to Elisa.

"Totally. Praise to whoever brought the Vodka!" She laughs and I laugh in agreement. We are mingling with the guests while drinking down numerous glasses of punch. I made it myself. My secret recipe. It gets you so hammered. Hmmm, I wonder where Lady Gaga went… I saw her not too long ago… Oh well.

I was right about Edward sneaking out. I haven't seen him, so he mustn't be here. It makes me sad. We've been friends for a while, and now he hates me because of one thing I've done. It wasn't even that bad. Going through his stuff is not a felony. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was familiar, like my shoulder was fit for that hand. I thought he'd never touch me again.

"Edward," I say, half asking.

"Bella, can I talk to you?" I turn around and his expression wasn't angry. It wasn't even frustrated. It was remorseful. He didn't want to yell at me He actually wanted to just talk.

"Sure." He grabs my hand and leads me away from the crowd. He turn s around and looks straight at. It almost makes me feel uncomfortable.

"Bella, I want to apologise. I acted like a pig. I really overreacted, and I'm sorry. No one deserves that treatment, especially not you," he says.

"It's ok, Edward. I shouldn't have read your manuscript book anyways," I apologise back.

"No, wait. I'm not finished." He looks at me with an open expression. I don't say anything, so he continues. "I have lot's of other stuff to apologise for. Well, not so much apologise, but explain. Like, when I went to lunch with you right after I broke up with Jessica - "

"Wait what? I though she broke up with you?" I am very puzzled. Why would he lie to me?

"Oh, right. I said that she broke up with me because… I don't know why. I went to lunch with you because I couldn't bear to lose sight of you. You're the reason I broke up with Jessica. I realised that on tour. Sure, you can be a bitch sometimes, but I don't care. Yes, I wrote a song about you. A lot of them actually. I was angry because I wanted to hide the fact that… I was afraid that you find out that…"

"That what?" I question him.

"That… I love you Bella. I have for a long time, but I couldn't come to terms with it. I so desperately wanted to tell you but I couldn't bear it if you didn't feel the same way. All week I've been wanting to say this, but I didn't have the guts. What really turned it for me was when I saw you just before. You looked miserable. Even at your own birthday party. It broke my heart. And I hope me saying this isn't braking yours." I swear I saw a tear.

"Edward, believe me, this is far from breaking my heart. I've never been so happy in all my life. I guess you've noticed, everyone else has, that I feel the same way…" He smiled.

"I didn't know that. That makes me so happy," he says excitedly.

"Wow, you're really unperceptive if you haven't noticed." I smiled the biggest smile I have ever smiled. His answering smile makes me feel like a schmuck. He's so beautiful, to put it lightly. I can't believe this is happening! After all the months of fantasizing and wishing an hoping and dreaming, it's coming true!

"So, what I'm really trying to say is…" he mumbles.

"You don't have to say anything more. I get it," I say. I lean in, hoping he would get the message. He did. All at once, my life is complete. In this one kiss, my heart is whole; I don't have to worry about anything at all, because I know that Edward will be there for me. I love him, and he loves me. I couldn't ask for anything more. We kiss for what feels like a long time. It is the most glorious kiss of my life. It actually means something. He pulls away, too soon for my liking. He has the most gorgeous smile on his face. A smile I cannot match in a million years. An angel's smile. My angel. I can now call him mine. That though thrills me.

"Come with me. I need to say something." He smiles evilly, methinks.

"What haven't you already said?" I ask, but go along with it. He takes my hand and leads me out into the crowd. I give him a puzzled look, which he answers with a smile. He winks at me and yells out into the crowd:

"I LOVE BELLA SAWN!" at the top of his lungs. You could clearly hear him over the music. Everyone looked at him with a look that said: 'that guy's crazy'. I saw Elisa smiling. My expression was a different story, however. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. My cheeks were bright red. At that moment Edward grabbed me by the waist and kissed me movie-style. Everyone cheered. Then the song changed from hard-hitting techno to one of my favourite songs: Sweet Disposition, by the Temper Trap. Edward releases me, then grabs me around the waist again. We start slow dancing.

Sweet disposition  
Never too soon  
Oh reckless abandon,  
Like no one's watching you

A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A kiss, a cry  
Our rights, our wrongs  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh

Just stay there  
Cause I'll be comin' over  
While our bloods still young  
It's so young, it runs  
Won't stop til it's over  
Won't stop to surrender

Songs of desperation  
I played them for you

A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A kiss, a cry  
our rights, our wrongs  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh

Just stay there  
Cause I'll be comin' over  
While our bloods still young  
It's so young, it runs  
Won't stop til it's over  
Won't stop to surrender  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A kiss, a cry  
Our rights, our wrongs (won't stop til it's over)  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A kiss, a cry  
Our rights, our wrongs (won't stop til it's over)  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A kiss, a cry  
Our rights, our wrongs (won't stop til it's over)  
A moment, a love  
A dream, a laugh  
A moment, a love  
A moment, a love (won't stop to surrender)

"I hate you for doing that," I grumble, when the song's done.

"Ha ha. No you don't," he says confidently.

"Shut up." He laughs. "Promise me you'll never get angry at me ever again."

"I promise. Being angry at you makes both of us miserable. Besides, what could I possibly be angry at you for now?" he snickers. "By the way, I forgive you for looking through my stuff. I just overreacted."

"Thank you." I was about to say something else, but someone interrupted me.

"Bella! Oh my god, that was so awesome. I never knew that guys could be so romantic! That's so cute!" Alice comes bouncing through the crowd. "So are you guys like, together now?" she asked excitedly. We look at each other and smile, still hand in hand.

"I'd say so," I answer. Alice squealed. We both laughed as Alice ran off to tell people, I assume. Dude, I am so going to write a song about this. I smile at that thought. Oh, that reminds me.

"Hey, Edward guess what?"" I tease.

"What?" he says, going along with it.

"I wrote songs about you too. Actually, most of my songs are about you. You just don't know it." I smile.

"Really?" he asks. I nod at him. He laughs once. "That's cool. I never knew that." I nod and giggle. "I'm bored, let's get out of here…" he whispers in my ear. I smile and nod. He takes my hand and we start to go upstairs. I randomly look out the window; nothing much to see in the black. Wait, I thought a saw flash… I realise that a man with a camera is pressed up right against my window. The camera flashed and I scream. They're not supposed to come on my property! Edward comes over to the window and looks out at the man, now clearly visible, because the porch light has been turned on. Thank god for Alice. The man quickly runs away. Oh my god, what had he taken pictures of? There were enough front page shots in here to fill an entire year's worth of front pages! What had he seen? Edward saw the worried look on my face.

"It'll be ok, they know what the consequences are for trespassing. Besides, whatever they write about you will be false anyways… you taught me that," he reminds me. He rubs my shoulder soothingly. I smile at him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Now where were we?" I smile at him and wink. He catches on and smiles back.

"I think I remember…" He grabs me around the waist and kisses me.

This truly has been the best night of my life.

**Yay! Together at last! So cute. And Alice being Bella's sister; what a surprise. :P**


	8. Tears

What a beautiful morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I'm lying to next to the man of my dreams. Could life be better? I am alternating between staring at the window and staring at Edward, because they are both equally beautiful. Actually no, scratch that. The view outside the window doesn't even compare. I turn my head to stare at Edward. He's so cute when he's asleep. I assume he isn't awake yet, so I let him lie. I absentmindedly stroke his hand that is nearest to me. I must have woken up, because he opens his eyes. He yawns.

"Why hello there," he whispers. He smiles, and I smile back. "I was worried that I would wake up and it would be all a dream, but here you are," he mumbles. To my embarrassment, my stomach rumbles. Ugh, I'm starving. And I have a hangover, I can fell my head throbbing.

"I'm starving. Breakfast time." I smile. I start to get up, and manage to sit on the edge of the bed. I try to get up, but fall back down after a wave of pain in my head brings me back down. I fall on the bed, and on him, kind of. He laughs.

"Hangover?" he chuckles. I nod, holding my head. "Right then, no coffee for you." I pout and he laughs again. He hasn't laughed this much since I've known him. He seems happy. That means I've achieved my goals. I feel a sense of accomplishment. Maybe one day I'll tell him that, but I won't now, because he might be angry with me again. He said he wouldn't, but I know Edward. As I've said before, he has a very short temper. My head is lying on his stomach, so he starts stroking my hair. I could stay here all day, but my tummy rumbles again. I notice his does too. I laugh.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's hungry," I notice.

"Indeed. Let's get some food. I'll carry you if you want me to," he adds with a chuckle. I laugh too.

"No, that's okay. I'm sure I'll be able to stand up eventually…"

"I'll get you some Panadol," he says, getting up. I get up too, heading towards the wardrobe. Yes, we moved into my room, because it's bigger. I realise that Edward has probably gone to his old room first to get clothes, then my pill, because he remembered that Alice is still staying here. I probably wouldn't have remembered.

I try and find clothes, but my headache is hurting so much that it's really hard. Eventually I do find some though, that are acceptable to wear in public anyways. Edward comes back with my Panadol and a glass of water then. I thank him and swallow the pill, followed by a big gulp of water. As soon as the pill takes effect, I'll actually be able to think clearly. This is the biggest hangover I've had, but I wasn't going to tell Edward that.

We head down the stairs, hand in hand. Partly because he wants to make sure I don't fall over again. Alice is already in the kitchen, eating breakfast. I look at the clock. Wow, we slept in late. It's eleven o'clock. Alice repeats my thoughts.

"You guys slept in late. Well, I suppose that's understandable given what you guys were doing last night," she says with a raise of her eyebrow. I blush.

"Shut up…" I mumble. She laughs. I open a cupboard and find a box of cereal. I also open the fridge for milk. I search around for ages, but I can't see any.

"Dang, no milk," I complain. I glare at Alice, who is drinking the last of it. She gives me an apologetic look. "I'll have to go out and get some now." Edward shoots me a worried look. "It's ok, the Panadol's working. Plus, the store is just around the corner, I'll walk." He still looks worried.

"I'm coming with you." I roll my eyes. Overprotective much? He notice my eye roll and smiles.

"Fine. Come on then." I grab his hand and we head out the door. Since Alice is still inside I don't bother locking it. We start to walk down the driveway. The mailbox is empty. Having Alice around is actually really handy.

We keep walking down the street. Wow, I would have thought their would have been more reporters around this morning, based on what happened last night, but there's none in sight. I smile. I hate those guys.

We get to the corner store, still hand in hand, and then I see them. Hundreds of reporters, ready to strike. I stop immediately, and so does Edward. They must have heard us, because all of them turn around at once. Then they go crazy. They surround us, asking me questions of every shape and form. I try to get out, but they keep surrounding us. I am still holding on to Edward, even though I can't see him. Aaghh, Help! I hate them even more that I did last night! Eventually I find an opening in the circle. Ew, awkward. But then I lose Edward. My hand feels cold and empty. But I crawl though anyway. I start to stand up, and somebody helps me. I look up at the face I know and love. Edward! He must have found his own way out of that maze. We get up and start running. Thank god I didn't chose to wear heels this morning.

I'm sick of this. People asking me ridiculous question every time I step out of the house. I just want to be able to do things like a normal person would. But, that's the price you pay for being famous. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes you feel like throwing in the towel. This is one of those times. We get back to the house and lock the door. I am panting, and almost crying. I hug Edward tight. That's what I need right now, a hug. Then the tears start to flow.

"I hate them!" I manage to say between tears. I am soaking his shirt with salt water, but he doesn't seem to mind. Then I hear someone coming down the stairs; Alice.

"What the hell happened? I thought you were just going out to get milk!" she demands.

"The paparazzi, that's what happened. Dozens of them, all around," Edward answers.

"Wow. Intense. I never knew the paps could be so mean." I nod, the tears still flowing. Edward, still hugging me, takes me upstairs. He sits me down on my bed and wipes the tears from my face.

"Hey now, come on. It'll be okay. What's the worst that they can write about you? It's like you said, if we know it's not true, then what's the problem?" he reassures me. He pulls up the corner of my mouth with his finger. "Smile," he says. I do as he says, and he grins. He then takes my face in both hands and kisses me, just a small one. An 'everything's okay' kiss. That makes me feel better, slightly.

"I don't deserve you," I mumble.

"Don't be silly," he says simply. Suddenly his phone rings; it scares me. He reaches into his pocket and answers it. "Hello?"

I hear a faint voice on the other end. It sounds like a chick.

"Jessica?" he says, with a shocked look on his face. I'm sure I had the same expression. "Why the heck are you calling me? What? What are you talking about? I left you. No that's not how I remember it. I explained why. No, that's not what I said at all! Yes, some time apart, insinuating that I wanted to break up. No, I'm not coming back. Where am I living? Well that's none of your business. Ok, so I'm at Bella's, so?" The was a long pause after that. "Yes, I live with her as her partner, I don't see how that concerns you. She understands me like you never did. I'm happy now, and I'm not coming back to you. Goodbye." He hangs up with a huff. He looks at me with a tired expression.

The phone rings again. No prize to guess who that is. He looks at it, then throws it across the room. I watch it fly. I look back at Edward and he is smiling.

"Maybe I should get a new number…" he mutters.

"You're never going back?" I ask.

"Of course not. You're my life now. I could never leave you. It would kill me," he says sincerely. I smile. He is still sitting on the floor in front of me. I pat the bed, wanting for him to sit next to me. He does. I lean my head on his shoulder and he puts his arms around me.

"Ouch, your shoulder is bony. Don't you eat?" I say, rubbing my already sore head. He laughs.

"I do so eat! I just don't gain any weight…"

"Lucky bitch…" I mumble. He laughs.

"So are you going to record or not?" Steve asks Edward. "You're already famous, may as well make it for something."

"Me? Famous?" Edward says, bewildered.

"Um, yeah? Everybody knows you name, because you're going out with Bella. You're all over the front pages." Edward just stares at him. Oh, come on, as if he didn't know that.

"You might as well record, everyone already knows your name. So much for anonymous…" I mention.

"I'll think about it…" I smile. In Edward language, that usually means yes.

Brush, brush, brush… Bleh, the mint flavour is burning my tongue. I spit it out and rinse. Oh well, at least I don't have bad breath. I was about to turn around when a mysterious pair of arms wrap around my waist. Jeez I wonder who that could be…

"Hey Edward."

"How did you know it was me?" he asks.

"Who else would it be, silly?" I laugh.

"Hey, I was thinking instead of doing what we usually do at this time of night, I could sing you one of my songs, maybe?" he winks.

"Of course, Edward, that would be great," I say calmly. He smiles and grabs my hand. He leads me towards our room and sits me down on the bed, He grabs his guitar and sits next to me. He plays the first chords and starts to sing.

_Stuck in a dead end world_

_Hoping good things will unfurl_

_Not quite sure what to do_

_But all I know is that I got you_

_You'll pull me out of this_

_Save me with a kiss_

_As long as we're together_

_Don't worry 'bout the bad weather_

_Only in my dreams _

_could we possibly be this way_

_Maybe if I keep wishing_

_We could end up together one day_

_If only_

_If only_

_If only I could be so brave_

_If only_

_If only_

"I never finished it, but I wrote that a while ago," he says, smiling. I then realise I am crying.

"Edward, that was amazing. That's exactly how I felt everyday," I say honestly. He smiles.

"Really?" he asks. I nod. "Cool." He laughs. My favourite sound in the world.

Wow, what a day.

**So, I hoped you liked that! Oh and by the way, I wrote that song. :)**


	9. Blood Tests

"I think you should do another tour," Steve mentions. We are having a meeting, or our version of one, since we are in Starbucks drinking coffee.

"Another one? Where to?" I ask, stunned that he wanted to move on so quickly.

"Australia." I open my eyes wide. That far?

"Why?" I ask, bewildered.

"To get away from the reporters of course. I heard about that little incident that you and Edward got into yesterday. I think it would be best if we headed over there, where the rumours and speculation are less extreme. The Australian audience is very accepting," Steve continues, making perfect sense. Get away from the paps. That sounds like a very, very good idea. And I've never been to Australia, it should be fun.

"Sure, why not," I agree.

"Great. I'll start organising it, we should be on the road by September."

"That soon?" It was only July for heaven's sake. Tours take months and months to organise.

"It shouldn't be to hard to pull together. Like I said, Australians are nice," he says in a final tone with a smile. "Oh, and we're getting you a bodyguard. No questions asked."

I roll my eyes. Now even Steve was being overprotective. That's all I needed. Edward practically never let me out of the house any more. And when I did go out, he had to come with me. So, obviously he is sitting next to me. He gives me a smile as I stare up at him. I look at my watch and realise what the time is.

"We'd better get going, we have to see Alice off." He looks at his watch as well. He nods. I start to stand up.

"Be careful. Paps hang around the airport like bees to honey," Steve warns me. I roll my eyes.

"Will do." Edward and I walk out the door, hand in hand, as always. The limo is just outside, so we hop in. I tell the driver to go to my house and then the airport. Edward puts his arm around me and I lean my head on his shoulder. I am so tired, despite the constant sleep I've been getting (what a good little girl I am). I haven't been partying or anything. I don't know what's wrong with me.

We pull up at the house and get out. I start to open the door, but Alice beats me to it.

"Where have you been? You are over ten minutes late. What were you doing, driving to Mexico and back?" she yells.

"Jeez Alice, relax. You still have plenty of time. Do you have your bags?" I ask.

"Of course I do. It's me we're talking about. I packed last night," she says will an eye roll.

"Right. Of course. Sorry Alice." I say.

"Don't worry. I'm just annoyed because I have to leave. Why now? But I suppose you have Edward. That should be enough to keep you out of trouble. But still, I'm leaving my baby sister in L.A. where there are dozens of reporters lurking around all the time just waiting for the moment to strike - "

"Alice, I'll be fine! Like you said, I have Edward," I reminded her.

"True. But I'll miss you so much!"

"There'll be time for all that at the airport, we'd better go," I say, looking at my watch again.

"Right. Let's go!"

"Goodbye Bella my sweat pea! I'll miss you forever!" Alice says as she hugs me tight. She gives Edward a brief hug as well. A little awkward, but they've only known each other for a week. I give her one final hug (the biggest one I've ever given) and she heads off to her plane with a wave of her hand. She blows me a kiss, which I give in return. I sigh as she goes through the doors.

"I'll miss her so much," I mumble. Edward holds me tight.

"I know you will. But you've got other things to think about now." Ah, good old practical Edward, always keeping me in check. I honestly do not know what I would do without him.

"Yeah, I know. Australia in two months. Wow." I am still unable to comprehend the monstrosity of it. I wonder what it will be like. I've heard that they keep kangaroos as pets or something. And that koala bears jump on your face and birds laugh at you. It's probably not like that though.

"So, we'll be starting in Sydney, then moving on to Canberra, then on to Melbourne, then to Adelaide, Alice Springs, Perth, Broome, Darwin, Cairns and ending up in Brisbane," Steve lists. I don't know where any of these places are in relation to the country, but sure, why not. "We'll be doing more shows in Melbourne than any other city, because it's the music capital of the country or something like that," he goes on.

I knew that at least. One of my favourite bands, The Temper Trap, is from Melbourne. I think. It'll be nice to see where the band was born.

'Now, Bella, I think it would be a good idea, and I suppose it applies to everyone else as well, to have a check up, and immunisations if need be. I don't want you getting sick over there." I nod. I hate doctors, but I'll follow his advice, because I don't want to get sick either. It's the worst possible thing that can happen, to a singer in particular. Just a few shots, maybe a blood test, and we're out of there. No harm done.

"Bella? Bells, wake up. Come on, my arm is numb. Wake up. Please? I kind of need my circulation back…" Hmm, what? Oh crap, I fell asleep again. We're on the couch, watching a movie. Well, we were. I guess it's over now.

"Oh my gosh, sorry. I can't keep awake for five minutes these days," I yawn.

"I noticed. Maybe a doctor's appointment is what you need. To make sure you're not anaemic or anything. It is common in vegetarians from what I've heard. Are you eating enough lentils?"

"Yes, plenty. I've been vego for ten years and I've been fine. I don't know what it is. And I'm getting one anyways, remember? Tour protocol." I yawn again. Edward has a worried look on his face, but doesn't press the matter.

"So, you excited for the tour?" he ask me, changing the subject.

"Yeah. I've never been to Australia. Should be good." I smile. Although I may be lethargic right now, I actually am pretty excited. Going to any new place is exciting. "What about you?" I ask, as I yawn again. My jaw's starting to hurt, that's how much I'm yawning.

"As long as you're with me, I'll be excited." I really don't deserve him. I smile. And yawn, yet again. His face becomes abruptly serious. He plonks a magazine on the table in front of me. I read the headline.

_Bella stole my boyfriend: Ex-girlfriend of Edward Cullen tells how Bella stole him away._

I widen my eyes. My god. How could she do this? Does she want to ruin our lives? Stupid question, of course she does. I look at Edward. He face is expressionless.

"What are we going to do about her?" I ask him, not really hoping for an answer.

"I honestly don't know. But there is one thing we can do…"

"What?" I ask tiredly.

"Get away from here, escape. Go on tour, go to another country where they don't care about all these rumours." He picks up the magazine and shakes it as he's saying this. He's right. Of course. I can't wait for Australia. I can't wait to get away from all the press and rumours and magazines and crazy ex-girlfriends. I'm sick of it. I want to go now. Too bad I have to endure another 3 weeks of this torture. It seemed like ages ago that we had sat in the coffee shop and planned it. Edward stood up all of the sudden.

"Where are you going?" I asked politely.

"Calling the doctors. I'll call Steve as well, to make sure he knows your getting yours early. You really need one, I'm worried." I rolled my eyes.

"You worry about me too much." I dismiss.

"I'm serious, Bella." I sigh. Truthfully, I had an idea of what might be wrong with me, I just hope I'm wrong.

"Ouch!" I cry. Damn blood tests, I hate them.

"And… done," the doctor murmurs. I puts a cotton bud on my arm. "Now, the blood test should be a couple of days, but the urine test I can tell you about now, if you'd like." He had a very serious look on his face. I nod. I really would like to know. "Now, I'm sure this will be a shock, but please keep calm, and we'll figure out what to do from here." I nod for him to go on. I can't take the suspense any longer. He doesn't go on.

"What?" I almost yell.

"Miss Swan, you're pregnant."

Oh. My. God.

**Hoped you liked that chapter :) Sorry it was a little short. How is this going to effect the tour? Will she go? So many questions. Well anyways, let me know if you liked it, by reviewing! They really make my day. :)**


	10. Lies

He can't know. No one can. It would just him worried and he would tell Steve and he would cancel the tour. I can't let that happen.

"Doctor, you cannot tell anyone this news. It is vitally important that you don't. If you do it could end my career."

"Of course not. It would end my career too. The whole patient-doctor confidentiality thing, remember?"

"Oh right. Well, thank you," I say, standing up. He nods and walks toward the door. I go out of the office and of course Edward is waiting for me. He smiles when he sees me come out. I shake the doctors hand and Edward and I walk to the car.

"So how'd it go?" Edward asked me.

"Fine. I'm as healthy as a horse."

"Did he say anything about you feeling tired all the time?" Quick, got to think of an excuse.

"Oh, umm, he said it might do me good to have a little more iron in my diet…" I think up on the spot.

"I told you. We're going to make sure you get plenty," he promises. Ugh, I hate lying to him. But there's too much at stake to tell him the truth just yet.

"I've always hated plane rides. They give me the creeps," Adam worries. Adam is the new tech person, and he's damn annoying. I don't know why Steve hired him. I asked him, and he said that 'he's good at what he does'. Yeah, sure. We'll see about that when he has to check mics in front of ten-thousand people. I just happened to be the one sitting next to him. Good thing I've got Edward on my other side. Ah, first class seats get better every year. So comfy. And I'm actually able to sleep. I'll need it, because we're on a 10 hour flight. Ugh.

"You okay?" Edward asks. I nod. He doesn't look very convinced. He never does.

"I'm fine, honestly." I smile and place my palm to his cheek, if only for a second. He sighs, and grabs it, holding it there. He kisses my palm and lets it go, setting it on my lap, where the other hand is. He smiles. It's my favourite thing in the world. I think I could live off those smiles. Well, food and water and maybe oxygen are essential too…

The plane starts to move and it's not long before we're in the air. I could watch a movie, go to sleep, listen to music… hmmm. Or just stare at Edward… I look over at Adam, and he doesn't look too good. He looks like he's about to puke. Eww… I certainly hope he can hold that until we land. I shudder and try to think about something else.

I decide to contemplate what the Australian audience will be like. How will they receive us? Are the magazines in Australia spreading the same rumours as the ones in America? What will the food be like? Is it true they eat kangaroo? How hot is it going to be? 85 degrees? 100? I'm going to melt. It's weird over there, they have summer during Christmas. No white Christmas for them. How weird. Actually I'm more worried about trying to understand them… what with their accent that sounds more like a speech impediment. I must have had worry on my face, because Edward brushes his fingers across my forehead, trying to smooth out all the worry lines. I smile at him, trying to look happy.

"Are you sure you're oka-"

"I'm fine," I interrupt. He looks like he doesn't believe me. I'm not going to be able to lie to him much longer, he knows me too well, and I've always been a terrible liar. The food comes down the isle, and I can smell the meat and fish smells. They make me want to vomit. The flight attendant comes to our seats and places a plate in front of Edward. He starts to place one in front of me, but I hold my hand up for him to stop.

"Vegetarian?" I ask.

"Oh… um…" he takes out a little piece of paper. He asks me what my name is and I tell him, not telling him my stage name obviously. He looks at the paper for a long time, or so it seems. He gives me a sheepish look. "Errr, you're not on the list…" I stare at him blankly. List?

"Excuse me?" I gape at him.

"See there's a list of people who have elected for a vegetarian meal when they booked their tickets…" What's he on about? No airline does that anymore. Steve is now looking at us, with a confused look on his face. I am still staring at the flight attendant with an almost angry expression. I'm starving. They're not giving me food. The bastards. Edward sees the look on my face and interjects before I lose it.

"You don't have any vegetarian options at all?" he ask calmly.

"Well, we only have a certain number of meals for the people who are on the list…"

"Screw your list!" I shout. I want to punch his face in. "Do you know who I am?" The flight attendant starts to get nervous.

"Errr, I think we have a-a s-spare meal s-somewhere…" he walks off very fast. I try to calm down, but I'm not doing very well. Why am I so angry? It's only a meal. I'm not even that hungry. Ok, that's a lie, I'm starving, but so what? Oh, I see now. The wild mood swings. That's a symptom of… well, you know. God, I can't even think the word, let alone accept the fact.

Edward notices my distress and puts his arms around me. This melts my anger almost instantly. I bury my face in his bony shoulder, hiding my teary face from him, and everyone else. Then Steve speaks.

"When I booked the tickets, the chick didn't say anything about vegetarian meals, I swear."

"Steve, I think it's best to just leave it," Edward answers for me. I nod. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Steve turn back to his meal. Edward hasn't touched his. He hasn't even opened it. Sit there in his arms, even when we landed.

"I'm never flying that airline again. What shit service," I comment as we move out of the airport. We are in Sydney, on the east cost of Australia, apparently. The group of us, and our 2 bodyguards, are attracting attention. Even with me in the centre of our little clump, people still stare at us with narrow eyes. Then the inevitable happened.

"Oh my god, it's Penny!" a kid screams. Then the rush starts. Lots of people run toward us, surrounding us. Sigh. Why must I be so recognisable? Oh right, because my face is all over the magazines. There are mainly teenage girls amongst the stampede of people. There are some boys there too, being dragged by the girls. Ah, boyfriends. What would we do without them? Who else would we drag to our ridiculous shindigs? We gradually move towards the exit, and towards the limo that _should_ be there. If it's not, I swear I'm going to crack it at someone. Preferably the person closest to me who's not Edward. Once the guards have fended off all the girls in the doorway, we walk briskly to the limo. Thank god it's there. It's not as hot as I thought it would be. Although, it is only October. I put my jacket on, over my summer dress. As soon as we're in the limo, I take off my sunglasses. I blink a few times to get used to the light. Edward gets in and sits next to me, an automatic gesture. There's no separating us now. Unless you have a lot of brute force. It's like magnets. Very strong magnets. You can't pull us away from each other.

No one says anything as we drive along. I look out the heavily tinted window, watching the city go by. It's very beautiful. The sun is shining on the water of the bay, and on the glass windows of the skyscrapers. You can see the almost white sand of the beaches, and the bridge over the water. The Sydney Harbour Bridge I think it's called.

The limo stops outside a grand building, with lots of gold furnishings. We must be at our hotel. There are guys in uniforms at the door, porters. I've always thought they kind of look like toy soldiers. We get out of the car and they take our bags out of the trunk. As we go into front reception, the people in the desk are running around madly. Clearly they were not prepared for our arrival. Steve goes up to the desk and a pretty blonde who is wearing too much make up smiles at him.

"Hi. We have a reservation under Williams Music Industries?" Steve asks the girl. She looks at her computer.

"Ah, yep. We have you in the Presidential Suite. 3rd floor, the porters will carry your bags up for you. Have a good stay." She says this very fast and in their weird accent. I can hardly understand her. She gives Steve the keys as we start to head over to the elevators. People stare as we move through the lobby. I don't blame them, we're surrounded by security. Not all of us fit in the elevator, so Edward, two security guys and I go in first. Edward holds my hand the whole way. He even gives me a kiss on the cheek. The security guys looked around awkwardly when he did that. It made me laugh.

We finally got to the room. There were only two rooms on this floor, one being ours. Probably because they were so big. The name of the hotel was Star City, according to the hotel stationary. There were several rooms, with double, queen or king sized beds. We were quick to claim the king sized bed, Edward and I. The porter came into the room then, and dumped our bags. We thanked him and grabbed them before they could fall over. As we were here for 4 days, I started unpacking some stuff, stuff that needed to be hung in the wardrobe. As I did some lingerie that I bought yesterday fell out, still the tags. Edward eyed them and raised one eyebrow. I winked at him as I stuffed them back in the enormous suitcase. I didn't realise that Steve had ordered us food, but I could smell it. The smell made me feel sick. I knew what this was, and I was determined not to give over to the sick that was lingering in my stomach. I knew Edward, and everyone else, would get suspicious then. And even if they didn't suspect… that… they would still be worried. Unless they thought Edward had stuffed up and given me a cream bagel again. But I was not going to be sick. I'm strong, I can handle it.

Edward notices my discomfort anyway. He opened his mouth to speak, but I gave him a glare as if to say "don't you dare say it". He shut his mouth after that.

We didn't have any shows until tomorrow, but we have a dress rehearsal and sound checks pretty much all day. I wasn't required the whole day, so I had breaks in which I could explore the city.

My costumes had their own truck, my make up had it's own car, and I won't even begin to tell you about my accessories. I like shiny things. Hehe.

Once they arrive, we can do a run through of the show. But they aren't here yet. Looks like I'm going on stage in my white dress. Well, I'm sure it's a nice change compared to what I usually wear on stage. I'm not as bad as a certain pop star who never seems to wear pants and has a tendency to sing songs about sex, but my costumes do leave something to the imagination. One of them is a full length leather body suit, tightly fit, with a low neck. Accompanied by thigh high boots. I usually wear this for my song "Superman". It seems appropriate. Takes ages to get into though…

My train of thought is broken by the stage managers yelling things, and one of them came over to me.

"It's time to do a run through now Miss Swan." I nod, and he leads me into the backstage area. There is nothing in the way of costumes or make up anywhere. My stylists are going to have a heart attack. We continue onto the stage and the first thing I notice is that the props aren't there either. We're screwed. Did they get lost in transit or something? Oh well. Costumes and props aren't important. Sure, they make for a great show, but in the end, all you need is your voice. And preferably a microphone. But they're there, so we're ok. For now.

We run through the songs in order, and I attempt to do my blocking, but it doesn't really work without the full set and props. I stuffed up one of the verses, got them mixed up. I shall have to go through that song before tomorrow.

Finally, we get to go back to our hotel. I'm so tired my eyelids are barely open. I collapse on the bed, but Edward starts to talk.

"Bella, we need to talk about this. You are clearly not fine. You've avoided me the whole day, every time there's food in the room you look like you might puke, and you look like you're going to faint in about 10 seconds." He frowned. Sigh. He knew me too well. But I wasn't going to revel my secret just yet. It's not the right time. I paused for a minute, trying to come up with a sufficient lie.

"Look, I haven't been feeling well since the plane ride, and I've had a really big day. Maybe a little bit of jet-lag. And I'm not avoiding you, I just had a lot of things to do." Okay, I was avoiding him kind of. I can't bear his accusing eyes. It just makes me want to cry and tell him that his child is growing inside me. Ugh, that sounds so ridiculous. He stares at me, disbelieving. I can tell he was hurt. He knew that I was keeping something from him. He knew that I knew, I think.

A wave of nausea came over me, and I fought it back, as I undressed for bed. Edward's eyes were on me the whole time, as if he were going to catch me as soon as I fell. Which was more than likely.

I fell to sleep easily, in Edward's arms of course, but it was wrong.

I needed to tell him.

Tomorrow, maybe. This week at least. Before he could figure it out, if he hadn't already. He needed to hear it from me.

**Sorry for the long wait, year 10 is a bitch :P**

**It was kind of a boring chapter, I know, but I'm establishing mood :D**

**Review, it would make me happy :) **


	11. The Show Must Go On

Why on earth am I nervous? I've never been nervous on a tour before. Maybe it's the hormones kicking in. Or maybe it's the fact that I've never been here before and I don't know what the audience is like. Or maybe it's the fact that when I left the sound check this morning the costumes still weren't there. Or maybe it's the fact that Edward (and everyone else for that matter) is getting more suspicious every hour.

Maybe I should tell Steve. And make him swear not to tell anyone. Or maybe he'll guess. He guessed that I was in love with Edward, so maybe he's exceptionally observant.

Anyway, I, and the rest of the crew, are in the limo on the way to the stadium. It's about 4 o 'clock, three hours before the actual show. We're here early for run throughs, more sound checks and the like. And of course it takes me an hour to get ready. The sun is still fully up, it feels like 12 noon rather than the afternoon. Summer is approaching here. I see people in shorts and t-shirts, although it can't be over 70 degrees.

Turns out I don't have much of a problem understanding people; they're accents are weird, but its still English. One person at the hotel saw us today and came up to us. At first we were apprehensive, worried about what this fan might do. But then he spoke.

"G'day! Are you Penny? Bet you are! I would recognise you from a mile away! What with the sunnies and the heels and all. And not to mention these brutes standing in my bloody way!" He pointed to my bodyguards. Some of the words I understood, like _mile_ and _my_. But I suppose I'll get used to it.

We are now at the stadium, and people are already starting to arrive. Stan, the driver, pulls out his cell phone, speaks for less than a minute, and suddenly a picture comes up on a screen that is near the people. Everyone turns their heads towards it, to see what was playing. Now we can get in without people hassling us. Not that it was necessary, there weren't that many people. But apparently Steve didn't want to take any chances.

We go through the stage door, not one person noticing. When I get to the dressing room, I see a rack full of clothes. Ah, at last the costumes have arrived. Now the first one I wear is the tank top and jeans. Where is that…?

I was fumbling through the clothes (out of order… again), when I feel a mysterious pair of arms snake around my waist. There was only on person it could be.

"Hey," he breaths against my neck, making me shiver. "Do you want some coffee? I can get some…" Hmmm, coffee was not a good idea, according to the doctor. Too much caffeine… or so they tell me.

"Nah, I'm ok. Thanks anyway." I smile. He turns me around.

"That's unusual, even for you. You can't live without coffee," he frowns. He was right. I didn't go a day without it. He was piecing it together, that was certain. I smiled again. I was going to say something, but Elisa interrupted me.

"Bella? We need to start make up now," she states. I nod and sit down at the mirror. Edward hugs me from behind again, and kisses me on the cheek.

"I'll see you later then. Good luck, not that you'll need it." He smiles my favourite smile and walks out the door. I realise that I am staring after him when Elisa whacks me on the back of the head.

"Ow!" I hiss.

"Pay attention. We can't have you distracted now, can we?" She frowns at me. "You look a little pale. Are you sweating? Have you slept at all? Gosh Bella, you're making my job hard." She gets to work straight away.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Please welcome to Sydney… Penny!" That was my cue, granted by the announcer. I wait for the band to play (no lip syncing for me) the first song, and the lights go down. The first song is _Sweetheart_. I hear the violin track play and walk behind the set to my little platform. The doors will open soon, and I will be there in some form of pose. Haven't decided which one yet. I go with putting my hands on the frame of the 'door' and lay my head down on one of my out stretched arms. The guitars start to play now, and the doors open to a massive crowd. The lights are blinding, but I can still hear the noise they are making when they see me. I can hardly hear the band over all their screaming. But luckily they have this ear piece technology now. It's feeding the band playing into my ear. I start singing when my cue comes, and the crowd screams even louder.

_Sweetheart_

_Aint she a sweetheart_

_When she starts_

_To talk_

_Sweetheart_

_Yeah she's such a sweetheart_

_Why don't you_

_Just walk?_

When I finish the song I'm supposed to vanish in a puff of smoke (how original). It's quite tricky, because I have to run off as the smoke is going off. There is a timer on the smoke thing, so I know when it's going to go off. I can see it now.

3…2…1… The smoke goes off, and I'm outta there. I get off the stage successfully, and I think it looked good.

"Good job Bella. It looked good," I hear in my ear. The tech guys at the back thought it worked, so I'm happy. Now I have to change, and fast. A long dress is my next attire. Luckily it's not as tight as my others. The next song is _Teenager_, which is one of my favourites. No time to talk to anyone now, I have to get back. I lurch all of a sudden, dizzy to the point where I almost fall over. But I fight it back. The show must go on.

The show is going well, and I am performing my 12th song. 15 s my maximum. Anymore than that and it starts to stress out the vocal chords. I know this song so well that I can think of other things at the same time.

The nausea is getting me down, and I still feel dizzy, even though I've drank 3 bottles of water. But I'll get over it. Edward saw me a couple of times, looking worried as always, but that's normal when I'm on tour. He worries too much.

The crowd is going crazy as I get to the chorus. The dizziness is threatening to take over, but I won't let it—oh wow. Wow, ok. All I see is black now. I can't hear anything… Edward…

Hands were on my face. Cool hands. More were on my wrist, pressing into it. Voices were everywhere. I think I was lying on the ground, the floor was cool. It felt nice. Then I could hear him.

"Bella! Bella you've got to wake up! Can you hear me?" Edward. He was close, I could hear him. I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn't. "Bella, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand," he instructed me. I think I could do that. I tried, and only exerted the smallest bit of pressure, despite my efforts. I heard a sigh of relief. I tried to open my eyes. I did a tiny bit, and light flooded my sight. Once they got used to it, I opened my eyes the whole way. I could see Edward's face; that would make anyone wake up. "Oh thank god. We were so worried!" He caressed my face, and kissed my forehead. I sat up. The dizziness was gone, thank goodness. But the look on Edward's face made me realise that I couldn't make up an excuse this time. I had to tell him.

I was helped up and taken into the limo, back into the hotel, and put to bed. But I wasn't going to sleep just yet. There were things left unsaid.

He was watching TV while I was changing, sitting on the bed. I sat next to him, facing him. He sensed my mood and faced me as well, turning the TV off. I put my hand on his face, not knowing where to begin.

"Edward I…" started to say, but I couldn't work out where to go from there. He stroked my cheek as well.

"Yes love?" he encouraged.

"What happened today… it was more than just a dizzy spell. And the tiredness, the no coffee, the nausea… these are not separate events…" I could see in his face that he was started to comprehend. His face was unreadable. I couldn't tell if he was overjoyed or murderous. Might as well confirm it for him. "I'm pregnant, Edward."

At first he was angry, but then his face lit up into a glorious smile. He started to laugh. I looked at him with a confused expression, but he kept on laughing. Then eh picked me up off the bed and swung me around in circles. I yelled at him to stop, but he just kept laughing. When he finally set me down, he grinned at me.

"I'm actually going to be a dad?" he beamed. I nodded. He laughed again, overjoyed by this news. I was still confused.

"You're not mad at me?" I asked.

"Of course not! This is amazing! We're going to have a baby! I am a little confused as to why you kept it from me though…"

"Well, I didn't want you to be worried and talk to Steve and he would cancel the tour and and and… I can't think of any more reasons…" I said in a blur. "I'm sorry," I said.

"It's okay. I understand. I'm just so happy though!" He laughed again.

"I can tell.." I managed to say before he whisked me off the bed again. His laughing must have been loud, because someone knocked on the door. Still holding me above the air, he opened the door. It was Steve.

"Can I ask what all the noise is? She's supposed to be resting," he asked, eyeing my position.

"Sorry, I was just celebrating," Edward answers. He smiled at me.

"Celebrating what?"

"Oh, nothing much… just the fact that WE'RE GOING TO BE PARENTS!" he shouts. Geez, I think my ear-drum just burst. Steve freezes. His face goes through a range of emotion. Happiness, anger, despair, hurt, overjoyment and more anger. When his colour returns to normal, he speaks.

"You're pregnant and you waited until we're in the middle of a _tour_ to mention it?" I give him a sheepish look, but I nodded. He shakes his head and walks away. I hear screams in the other room as he tells everyone else.

Now everyone knows, Edward isn't mad at me (in fact quite the opposite), and I'm quite sure that I'll have a baby bump, a small one, by the time we get back to the U.S. What a great life I have.


	12. Melbourne

I was on Australian news. Every channel had footage of me fainting on stage. And every one had their reasons behind it. Luckily we're leaving for Melbourne today. The flight is only an hour long, so I don't have to put up flight attendants today. Hopefully the folks in Melbourne are nice as the ones in Sydney.

All the crew were on edge, worried that I was going to collapse at any moment. I kept telling them that I was fine, but they obviously didn't believe me.

The flight was short and uneventful. No gawkers or absurd fans, no border security nonsense, no paps, no incompetent flight attendants. It went as smoothly as caramel. Not what you'd expect for a travelling rock star such as myself. It was kind of weird, in a way.

When we got into Melbourne, the first thing I noticed was how beautiful it was. It was a city, but not crowded or polluted. It was sunny, and it brought out the blonde tints in my hair. As we drove through the streets, I noticed lots of things. A historic train station, not unlike Grand Central Station in New York. Lots of side streets and lanes, that had the most gorgeous cafés. Trams everywhere. The only other place I'd seen those was in San Francisco. A river that split the city in half, and lots of parks either side of it, with majestic trees lining the banks. There were people rowing on the river. We saw a building that claimed to the Melbourne Museum, and another that was the Aquarium. They had everything here.

We pulled up to a large building with blinking lights. I saw this building before, you could see it from the big train station. It looked very pricey. Not where your average tourist would stay. Good thing I wasn't one.

"Welcome to Crown!" the doorman greeted us. Crown. Huh. They have funny names for hotels here. Star City, and now Crown? Some one must have seen my confused look, because Edward whispered in my ear that it was in fact "Crown Casino". Oh. That's why. Casino's always have funny names.

There were fountains in the lobby. Not just small fountains either, massive ones along the stairs. I heard someone mention that they do a light show with them every half hour. I would have to see that. There were chandeliers on the roof of course, and I could see the casino part from here.

We checked in and headed up to our room. We got in with no trouble. As it had been in Sydney, the room was divided into smaller rooms. Naturally I made the dash for the biggest room. Since we would be spending 4 days here (4 shows), I started to unpack. This time Edward helped, and again eyed the pieces of scanty clothing I had packed.

"What were you planning on doing with this?" he asked as he pulled out a mini skirt that was layered with lace. It did not leave much to the imagination. I winked at him as he smiled.

I was hungry, then again I was always hungry, so we went down to the buffet. It was just past lunchtime, so there was still some food left. But the chef saw me coming anyways, and the whole kitchen blurred into action. We sat down at a table, Edward and I, and talked about how gorgeous Melbourne was.

"Did you see the parks? They're amazing!"

"So many cafés…"

"I can't wait to walk around!"

"That train station looked old. I wonder…"

"So what do you want for lunch?" Edward asked out of the blue. I had to think about it for a minute.

"Well I could really go for some veggie lasagne right about now. Do you think they make it?" I wondered.

"I'm sure they do," he said, smiling. He looked behind me, and I turned around to see what he was looking at. All I saw was a waiter scuttling off to the kitchen. Then I realised.

"How long had he been standing behind me?" I asked. Edward only laughed.

Turns out they did make it. It was delicious. Best I've ever had. Well, maybe no as good as my Mom's, but still pretty damn good. A gorgeous iced coffee to accompany it. Edward frowned when I ordered that, but I reassured him by saying it was mostly milk. Which it was.

I was still hungry after my second helping, so I ordered chocolate cake too. I've never eaten so much in my life. Either I'm getting fat, or baby likes food a lot. Baby. I never thought I'd use that term intertwined with myself. It still hasn't hit me yet.

The show was about to start, and I was feeling great. No dizziness, no blurry vision, no nausea. Just to be safe though I had drank a lot of water and taken a few pills to make the sickness go away. Edward kissed me before I went on. Probably no such a good idea, because his kisses always make me disorientated. But I went on anyways.

The crowd loved it. I finished my last song to ear splitting screaming. They sang along to the lyrics. Everyone knows this song. This is the song that everyone hears in their head when someone says "Penny". My most well known song. _Hello Hello_. It's also my favourite. It went to Number One when I was only 20 years old.

As I sung the last words, I left the stage, waving, saying thank you, crying a little bit. As I came off stage, I was beaming. My first finished show in Australia. Edward ran to me and hugged me so hard I almost choked. But I hugged him just as hard back. When he finally released me, I saw that everyone else was smiling as well. We did it. Now only 20 more shows to go.

Click. Click. Click. Flash. Shouting. Pushing.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to take a walk. Somehow, the paps found us. I hate the camera flashes. They always leave me blind, they're so bright. I just want to walk here! Get out of my way. Leave me alone. Stop trying to touch me. Ugh, does anyone know how to get back to the hotel?

We told Steve of our being attacked when we finally managed to get back to the hotel. He frowned, saying that they shouldn't be this bad here. And he's right. But oh well. We have to get on with the job. Edward was worried that the stress the paps were causing me was bad for the baby, but I told him that I was fine, like always. It was so much easier having him know. No more lying, feeling guilty. What was I worried about in telling him? If I knew he was going to have _that_ reaction, I would have told right there at the doctors. Me and my silly fears I guess.

Everything was running smoothly. Brand new audience, sound was perfect, costumes has been organised into stage order. My make up was on, perfect, thanks to Elisa. I was wearing my highest heels (gorgeous, but uncomfortable), with a glass of water in hand. I couldn't wait to get out there. All of my shows were sold out, which meant just a big a crowd as last night. Steve was happy, non-stressed, which was a first for him.

"Wow, you seem relaxed tonight. Usually you're a wreck," I said to him.

"Nonsense. Relaxed is my middle name." I couldn't keep a straight face. Neither could he. We both burst out laughing.

We were all ready to go. I think I was the only who was the least bit nervous. But usually after the second song I'm fine. I have my pre-show ritual though. It involves a coffee (although now it's just plain water), then I put on another layer of lip gloss, then I go to the bathroom, then take off my heels and do a full lap of the backstage area, 3 times. I put my heels back on, drink a little more water, then stand were I enter 'the door', for the first act. If I don't do that then I'm a wreck.

Ah, the screaming of teenagers. Always keeps me going. I have just said goodnight to the screaming fans, and am walking offstage. Hard to do in this big puffy dress, but I manage. Edward is the first to meet me, and he gives me a hug. And a kiss on the cheek of course. I walk, as fast as I can go in these giant heels and flowing dress, to the dressing room, to put on normal clothes. Edward holds on to me as I walk, because I have fallen many times while wearing this outfit. Who chose this thing anyways? Oh right, I did. Was I on the vodka when I picked this?

Elisa helps me get out of the stupid thing. The relief one gets when you take off your heels and sit down is indescribable. As I'm sitting in the dressing room chair, in my underwear, I think about what my life will be like with a child. Busy, I'd imagine. Panic sets in as I realise I don't know how to change nappies, let alone want to. Edward can do that part. My hands move to my stomach, as if I was expecting there to be a bump. But it was flat, as always. For now. What am I going to be like when I'm huge? Will Edward still think I'm pretty? What if I don't lose the baby weight?

I feel clothes drape over the back of the chair, and the door open and close. I grab the clothes, not caring what they were (either that or I trust Elisa's fashion sense). I change and open the door, not expecting anyone to be quite so close to it, but there he was, right there, ready to kiss me as soon as the doors open. Edward grabs me when I nearly fall over. He kisses me strongly, and I have to break away so I can breathe.

"You know, it only takes your presence to make me lose my concentration, therefore making me clumsy…" I mutter to him.

"I know," he grins. Stupid, arrogant, gorgeous man. He grabs my hand, still grinning, and we walk down the hallway. The car should be outside by now. We are in no hurry though, it'll wait for us. As we round the corner, I can see a woman coming towards us. It's another long hallway, and I can't be sure that I know her. I know it's a woman though, because I can hear the click-clack of her heels. As we get closer, I can see she's blonde, and very pretty. Impeccable fashion sense. I look at Edward, and he is angry. Like, really angry. I get scared just by looking at him. Whoever this woman was, he was not pleased to see her.

I can now see her clearly, and she looks familiar. I know I've seen her somewhere before. She stops, about five metres away from us, glaring at me. Then her expression changes as she looks at Edward, to one of love, and desperation. Then it dawns on me. I had seen this face before. In a photo that I had not long ago picked up and looked at.

Jessica. Now I understood the angry look on Edward's face. What was she doing here? I swear our minds are connected, because Edward asked the same question.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he almost snarled at her.

"I though I'd come and see you, knowing you tag along like a puppy to its mother. Always knew she was a bitch," she answered calmly. I glared at her.

"You are such a hypocrite," he hurled back.

"Hey, she was the one who _stole_ you off me. She doesn't deserve you. I know you so much better. We were going to start a family together, Edward! How can you just abandon me like that? All our hopes and dreams, and things we wanted to be. We can still have that! Come back to me, so we can have a proper family."

"Um, can you not talk about me while I'm still here? Or at least hurl you're insults at me, rather than throw them off to Edward?" I interjected.

"Shoo fly. Go annoy someone else. I'm trying to talk to the man I love. You know he loves me too? He's just denying it. Look, I can see it in his eyes. See that? LOVE. Something you'll never know, slut," she abuses. I look at Edward. I snort.

"Love? Yeah right. All I see is murderous rage. I'm guessing he'd like to chuck you off some form of bridge right about now. You'd better stay away from those while you're here, you might find yourself in the river."

"Oh my god, do you ever go away?"

"Nice comeback, I'll be sure to write that one down."

"At least I didn't steal another's boyfriend! God, you're such a slut! You think you're so hot just because you have a couple of songs on the radio. So hot that you could steal an innocent girl's man!" she shouts at me.

"In case you didn't notice, he broke up with you. I was the one he-" I stop mid sentence as I realise something.

I was the rebound. Disposable. Something to enjoy, then dump. A pick-me-up. Was he using me as a rebound? No, Edward would never do that. But the doubt was still lurking…

"Run out of insults, bitch?"

"Can you both just stop!" Edward speaks for the first time in this cat-fight. We both look at him. His eyes were on me, not of rage but of caring. How could he use me as the rebound? The look in his eyes made me think he really loved me. He turns to Jessica.

"Look, Jessica, we're through. There is no us anymore. I don't love you. You've got to understand that," he says calmly.

"You're lying to yourself! How could you possibly love her? The slut, bitch, drinking-doing-drugs-and-having-sex-with-every-human-male-on-the-planet-who-isn't-gay whore?" She takes a deep breath after her giant sentence.

"She's not like that, you're making it up. Go back to L.A, and don't bother us again."

I liked the way he said 'us'. Like we were a package deal. And I suppose we were.

"Fine. But I wanted to do one thing first." She smiles flirtingly at Edward and moves forward towards him. Oh no. I know what's coming. If she thinks she can do that without a broken arm, she's severely mistaken. Edward stood still. He must not know what she was planning. She is getting closer, that stupid smile still on her ugly little face. She gets about a foot away and stops. She puts her hands up towards him and I start to move, ready to break her arm. Then she does what I did not expect. She brings up her arm, and slaps Edward fully across the face. Hard. I heard the sound. It echoed through the hall as I stared at Edward with horror. He doesn't seem hurt at all. I would be on the ground. But then again, Edward could lift keyboards with one hand.

Jessica glares at me one last time, then walks down the hallway again, quickly. I am too scared to move. Edward is rubbing his cheek. Huh. So he isn't indestructible after all. I don't know what to say, or do. Edward turns to me and smiles. How could he be smiling after what just happened?

"I'm so sorry about that," he apologises.

"Why are you sorry? It wasn't your fault. If anything, it was my fault. I mean, she's right, in a way. I did kind of steal you…"

"Don't be ridiculous. The only thing you stole is my heart. Wow, that sounds corny. But it's true. I've always belonged to you, even though I didn't realise until about 6 months ago," he rambles. "And she's crazy with jealousy anyway, even if I wasn't with you, God forbid. You have nothing to worry about. I might have to take legal action though… it's getting a bit out of hand…" he trails off.

I still can't believe she would do that though. And why would she come all this way, just to have a fight with us? It doesn't make sense.

I can't dwell on this for long though, because I still had the other issue to deal with.

And I didn't want to be known as a rebound girl.

**Sorry about the late update. Those awful, horrible things known as EXAMS kept me from writing. Hope you liked the chapter :)**

**I think Jessica needs some new insults. What do you think? Review, and tell me your best insults! :)**


	13. Here In Brisbane

The tour has been brilliant. Better than you the one in America, all those months ago. Before all of this drama began. Although, the drama is worth it.

We didn't hear from Jessica again after Melbourne. Thank goodness for that. I don't know if I could stand another round with her, she might hit _me_ next time. Mind you I would prefer that to her hitting Edward again.

I was right about the baby bump. It's nearing the 4 month mark and a defined bump is there. Sometimes I imagine it to be twice the size, imagine what I will be like when I'm huge. Edward assures me that he'll still think I'm beautiful even when I'm my own planet.

I don't think anyone has noticed it yet, especially the press. We've been keeping a very low profile since Melbourne, and it seems to be working. We haven't been hassled majorly for quite a bit.

We're in Brisbane now, doing our last shows. We had Christmas here, which is a shame, because I didn't get to see my family or anything like that. Not that I have much of a family. Apart from Alice, I don't talk to my family other than occasions like Christmas. It's quite awkward.

Next year that will change. I'll have my own family. Made of Edward, baby to be, Alice and myself. And I can't wait.

It's the middle of the night, and Edward's asleep. I don't know how he can sleep all night with his arms around me, but somehow he manages. He hardly twitches when he sleeps, it's bizarre. Anyway, I can't sleep, because I'm too busy thinking about the future. Boy or girl? Names, endless names… Blonde or brunette? Will he or she have musical talent? Will I keep going with my career, or will I be a stay-at-home-mom? I must have been tossing a little bit, because Edward moves, meaning he is awake.

"You awake Bells?" he says sleepily.

"No," I joke. He laughs. He pulls my shoulder so I am facing him.

"Why are you still awake? It's 2 am."

"I can't sleep…" I say truthfully. He frowns.

"Why?"

"I just can't stop thinking about the future. So many questions are running through my head. Things to sort out, things to decide…" I rambled.

"Hey, come on now. You don't need to worry about that at the moment. All you need to focus on at the moment is getting these last shows done. Ok?" he says gently. He waits for a response, so I nod. He smiles and tightens his grip on me. He starts to rub my back, an attempt to get me to sleep. But I can't help but let my mind wander back to those queries. I swear Edward's a mind reader.

"Stop thinking about it," he sighs. "Do you want me to sing you to sleep?" I look up at him and smile. His voice could put anyone to sleep. But in a good way, not in a boring way. He starts to hum Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are"; one of my favourite songs. I close my eyes and start to drift to sleep. But before I do, I have to ask something important.

"Edward am I the rebound girl?" I ask slowly. At that he laughs.

"Are you high?" he chuckles. I laugh as well. He continues to hum to me. Well that settles that. I slowly drift to sleep.

It is exceptionally hot today, here in Brisbane. I'm melting in my shorts and singlet. The hotel's air conditioner has broken. I'm never staying here again, that's for sure. Of course, Edward is worried about my health, and the health of the baby in the heat. I assure him that the temperature is not going to interfere with any growing.

We didn't want to find out the gender of the baby, we want it to be a surprise. My idea of course. Edward happily agreed, but then he'll agree with anything I say.

There isn't much to do at all today. Just the show. The second last show of the tour. I can't believe it's almost over already. I love it here. I love the people, the place I've been to, the venues. Everything. I don't want to leave. I'm definitely coming back.

I'm lying n the bed, trying to sleep, and running through lyrics in my head. I'm half way through _Perfect_ when Edward comes in. He smiles at me. Even in his smile I can see that he loves me. It's a smile of affection, a smile that says "You're amazing". I smile back at him, hoping that he see the same in my smile. He sits next to me, stroking my sweaty cheek.

"Sorry, I probably look disgusting," I apologise.

"Silly Bella. You never look disgusting," he scoffs, and pokes me on the nose.

"What if I was mauled? Like that girl in _Twilight_… what was her name?" I've read that book maybe twice? It started with E I think…

"You would still be the most beautiful girl in the universe," he says with a smile. I grimace. At that he laughs. "Did I wake you up, by the way?" he asks.

"No, no. I was just going through my lyrics in my head. I can't concentrate very well, so I was going through them, so I don't blank on stage." That would embarrassing.

"I'm sure you won't," he reassures me. He smiles. I can't help but smile back, it's infectious. "Oh, and her name was Emily." He winked.

He was right of course. I didn't stuff up once. You would think I wouldn't, after doing so many shows, but occasionally I'll make a mistake that will send me into a blush so bad you could spot me from the other side of park. But I didn't make one, so I was happy.

So was Steve. He was grinning for ear to ear as I stepped backstage. Edward helped me back to my dressing room again. I was about to sit down in the chair, when I lurched. Something nudged my belly inside of me. I fell onto the floor, because I had lost my balance. I sat up, hand on my belly. Edward was fussing over me, stroking my face and checking to see if I was hurt. I think he was talking, but I wasn't paying attention, so I couldn't be sure. After a while he noticed my position.

"Bella? Bella talk to me, I'm begging you," he pleads. I look up at him. I gasp as the baby kicks again. I can feel it on my hand as well. I decide to put Edward out of his misery.

"Edward, come see! Or feel, that is." I grab his hand and put it to my belly. Nothing happens for a little while, but when Edward looks up at me, the baby starts to kick. He looks at me, wide-eyed, and smiles. I grin back. Steve comes in, seeing what the commotion was. He notices our position on the floor and cocks his head to the side, in a confused manner. I grin at him. He raises one eyebrow and walks out. I laugh. Edward laughs with me.

I am still beaming when we get back to the hotel. I never believed anyone when they said it was an amazing experience, when the baby first kicks. I've never felt happier in my life. I'm doing what I love, with my friends, and the person I love, and my potential son or daughter growing. I can't stop bouncing, and my cheeks hurt from smiling, but I can't stop.

Edward is happier than I am, if that's possible. I try to calm down by having a shower, but that didn't work. I can't get to sleep, but then neither can Edward. As it's my last show tomorrow, I really should rest, but I'm too keyed up. So I decide to kiss my boyfriend instead.

I wake up the next morning with maybe one or two hours sleep. I pull myself from Edward's arms and try to tame the mess that is my hair. Elisa is not going to be happy with me. There are shadows under my eyes, and… oh crap, I see a pimple coming on. Hmm… nothing a bit of cover-up won't fix. I'm still admiring my hideous look when Edward comes into the bathroom. I turn around to hug him, and can't help glancing at his topless form. He notices my stare.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing…" I giggle, blushing a little.

"Does my being half naked bother you?" he smirks. At that I can only giggle more. What a silly question. The baby kicked in agreement.

There wasn't anything else to do, so we decided to head down to the beach. It was blisteringly hot, and I couldn't resist the perfectly white sand and aqua ocean of the Brisbane beaches.

I took my sunglasses off to have a swim. That was a bad idea. Bright light. Blinding. Bleh. I come back to my towel dripping. I don't bother to dry myself, the water feels nice. I lie down to sunbake. The beach is practically deserted, no one has even noticed me yet. Edward is sitting on his towel, reading a book.

"Why don't you go for a swim?" I suggested when he put the book down.

"Um, err… no, I'm fine…" he stammers, fear in his eyes. That's not like him. Nothing scares Edward. At least not this bad.

"Spill." He sighs. He looks down, as if he is embarrassed.

"I used to love the ocean. I used to live near there, in my parents house by the sea. I would go every morning for a swim, and sometimes surf. I was okay at it too. But then… when I was twelve, I was having a swim, like I usually did. I was being arrogant and big-headed, I thought that the signs were stupid. I swam into a rip-tide, either accidently or on purpose, I can't remember. I started to get swept out. I went quite far out, and couldn't swim back. I struggled and struggled against it, not realising that I was being pulled towards the rocks of the cliffs that surrounded our tiny bay. I was slammed against the rocks at least twice, and washed up onto them. I haven't been in the water since. We had to move house because I was so afraid of the ocean, I couldn't even be close to it. I can't physically get any closer than this." He held up his arm to show me the long white scar running down his forearm. He then turned his back to me to show me the ones on his lower back. He was shaking, his eyes still fearful. I had never seen this side to him. I didn't know what to say. But it explains why he didn't want to take a bath…

I didn't know what to do. I went for a hug, hesitant. But he pulled me in, so I gave him the most sympathetic hug I could manage.

"Honey, it's ok. I'm sorry that's happened to you, and we don't have to stay here," I soothed. He shook his head.

"It's okay, I don't mind. It's the only place you'll wear that," he said, glancing at my not so appropriate bikini, and winked. I blushed.

Yes baby, I know he's making my heart fly, stop kicking already.


	14. Going Home

It's going to be hard to say goodbye. To this place, this country. It's so beautiful.

I performed my last show in Australia last night, and I'm packing, to go home. It doesn't help that the baby kicks every time Edward comes into view. I don't think he's realised that yet, but he soon will. Surely my heart is so loud that he can hear it?

I put on my favourite shirt, only to realise that it doesn't quite fit. I sigh. So it's started then. Shopping here I come. I never imagined I would but something from the maternity section. The though made me shudder a bit.

I put on a dress instead. You can hide it in a dress. My hair is a mess, so I straighten it. I put it down to brush it, when Edward comes into the bathroom to get his stuff. I see him in the mirror and he sees me. I smile at him, picking up the straightner. A sharp pain in my hand informs me I have picked it up at the wrong end, burning my palm. I let out a yelp and immediately put it under cold water.

Edward rushes over, asking what happened. When I told him, he gives me a disapproving look.

"What am I going to do with you, Bella? Goodness, if you can't even take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of a baby?" he says jokingly.

"Hey, it's your fault," I say, defending myself.

"My fault?"

"Yeah, if the sight of you didn't make me so clumsy then I wouldn't have done that…" He laughs.

"Really? I make you clumsy?" he chuckles.

"Oh come on. You must know the effect you have on people. You dazzle them," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Do I dazzle you?"

"Frequently."

"Come on, Miss Clumsy. Time to finish packing," he tells me.

"But I don't want to leave. I like it here," he say, being reminiscent of a misbehaving child.

"I know, I don't want to either. But if we miss our flight, we'll have to wait for another one. Crowded airline lounges, only coffee as nutrition, apart from the candy in the vending machine…" He shudders.

"I'm staying. I'll never leave, ever!" I shout, keeping up my child regime.

"Oh really? What if I do this?" he starts to tickle me, at which I giggle profusely, but I'm not giving up. I stay glued to my spot. "Hmmm…" he wonders. "I'll have to try a more desperate measure…" he says, winking at me. In a movement that is so fast it is almost blurred, he picks me up and over his shoulder, and walks to the bedroom.

"Put me down you idiot!" I protest, hitting him several times in the back. He doesn't even flinch. I sigh. There was no getting out of it, he was too strong. Damn him.

He practically throws me on the bed, at which I frown at. He grins at me, before pinning me underneath him. I'm still frowning at him.

"Now, are you going home or not?" he asks.

"No," I say without hesitation.

"Even with the knowledge that I will carry you through the airport if you refuse again?" he sniggers.

I am about to retaliate, but then realise that him carrying me through the airport is probably not such a good look. Even though he would enjoy it. I sigh.

"Fine. I guess we can always come back," I negotiate.

"Exactly," he grins in victory. I roll my eyes. Then I realise how close his face is to mine, and my heart starts beating frantically as it always does.

I grab his face and continue to "pack".

I think that the press just hang out at the airport all the time… they are there outside as we drive up. I sigh, walking into the pack of cameras and voice recorders. I resist the urge to protect my belly, that would be too obvious. As with before, they are asking questions about the tour.

"Was the tour a success?"

"Is it true that this tour has saved you from bankruptcy?"

"Any truth to the rumour that you punched Jessica Stanley in the face?" Wow, ok. I am going to have to sort that one out when we get home. The bitch probably told the press that.

"Is that a baby bump or are you just getting fat?" How rude. That's not necessarily a question you ask people. Or do celebrities not count as people any more? I growl under my breath. I'm going to release that officially when I damn well feel like it, not answer yes or no to rumours.

Edward fends them off as we go to check in. I thought this dress hid my small, but defined, baby bump…

Of course, checking in to a flight is never as easy as you think it is. The attendant informed me that my bag was overweight, and told me I needed to pay a few extra hundred dollars for it. Well, needless to say, I let him have it. It was only a few hundred grams (according to their weird metric system) overweight. I was not going to pay it. Steve sorted it out. I never did find out how it turned out.

And of course, they took my nails scissors, my water bottle, my nail file, and my food away. And then I practically got felt up by the damn security guys.

This is one thing I will not miss about Australia; the airport. But to be fair, all airports are hell.

Our flight was delayed, so we had to sit in the lounge, with people coming up to me in five minute intervals, asking for an autograph. Edward bought me these things called Malteasers, which were yummy, and cured my boredom for all the of the ten minutes it took me to eat them.

Our plane finally got there, and we were the first ones on. I saw the flight attendants whisper amongst themselves as I got on. Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people. I'm used to it by now, but sometimes it makes me feel like a freak.

I believe they have learnt from last time, as the first thing the flight attendant says to me is:

"We have a couple of vegetarian options for the meal today. Uh, we have pumpkin soup or lentil curry…"

In some ways, I was looking forward to being home, but in other ways I was dreading it. Had the press forgotten me, or was my return to America going to be another reason for a story? Surely they would have died down by now. I mean, that was the whole point of the tour, wasn't it?

As we touch down on home soil (with a cheer from the passengers behind us), I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not because of the plane, and not because of the baby. I realised that people's careers had been destroyed by bad rumours. I start to shake a little, even when we're on the ground.

I wake Edward up; he has been sleeping the whole time. Lucky him. I find it impossible to sleep on planes.

I thought I was hiding it pretty well, but I guess Edward knows me very well. He holds my hand to try and soothe my agitation as we walk down the hallway to the baggage claim. Nothing yet. That must be a good sign.

I see a group of people in a crowd, and immediately feel nauseated. I see a flash of blonde hair in the middle of the crowd. Oh, Lady GaGa's here. My gosh, what is she wearing? Well, I won't get very much attention at all then. Thank goodness.

I see my bag and grab it. Or attempt to grab it; it's really heavy. Steve grabs it off me before it crushes me.

Someone must have noticed the commotion, because the reporters suddenly get bored with Lady GaGa's outfit, and rush over to me. Oh crap.

The shout numerous things at me, things I can't even understand. A lot of the questions were about Edward, I think. Apparently people didn't think very much of him. Or me, for dating him. Stupid rumours. But before they can get to the obvious question (I saw one guy staring at my stomach), I decide to give in.

"Before you ask, yes it's true. I'm pregnant. Get over it," I say with a roll of my eyes. I grab my bag and walk off. I have to get of this damn airport as soon as possible. I hear a lot of shouting behind me.

I want to get home. I want to sleep. I want to curl up in a ball and forget the world. I want to listen to music at full volume. I want to hug Edward. I want to be normal. I'm sick of it.

I cry the whole way home.

"It was all for nothing," I blubber.

We're back home, and I'm doing exactly what I said I would; hugging Edward. Being the wonderful and tolerant person he is, he is just sitting there, listening to my rants and letting me stain his shirt with tears. Occasionally he would put in a comment.

"It was not for nothing," he assures me.

"But the whole point was to get out of here while the press forgot me. And they didn't. They're worse than before. I hate them!" I cry. Edward strokes my cheek, catching the tears that fell there.

The shrill ring of my phone makes me jump. I can't remember where I put it… I get up to look for it, but Edward stops me, and takes it out of my purse. Oh yeah.

Edward answers it.

"Hello? Hey Steve, what's up? Uh huh. Umm… I'm not really sure about that… she's a bit… put out by today. Yes, I know. Well her wellbeing is _my_ first priority, maybe you've forgotten? Fine." He hands me the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella. Look we have a gig lined up for you," he informs me in a cold voice.

"Sure. What is it?"

"A benefit gig on the other side of town. A couple of songs, maybe a new one and we're out of there. No pay I'm afraid." Duh. It's a benefit.

"Sounds good. When?" I ask.

"Er, Wednesday. That ok with you?" Wednesday… I look at the calendar on my wall. That was two days from now. Bit late notice.

"Well, I'll need time to rehearse the new one, but I think I can manage it."

"Great," he says. Edward holds out his hand for the phone.

"Passing you back to Edward," I say, giving him the phone.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you something… hang on." To my surprise, he walks out of the room. What did he want to talk about that he didn't want me to hear? That was odd. He comes back quickly though. He gives me my phone back, the call finished. I give him a glare.

"What was that about?" I ask, with as much suspicion in my voice as I can muster.

"Nothing," he answers with a smile. He sniggers a little. "Oh, and you're only doing two songs now. I managed to convince Steve that it was best for your health." I roll my eyes. Trust him to be worried about that.

My thoughts were still on before. What on earth was he planning?

Hmm…


	15. Just The Way You Are

I rehearsed most of the day yesterday. Even though I didn't need to, it took my mind off what happened at the airport. The two songs I'm doing are _Superman_ and _Hello Hello_. Obvious choices in my opinion. I didn't have to worry about a new one now, thanks to Edward's worries about my health.

I was all ready to go, dressed in what I was going to perform in. It was a chilly day in L.A., so I didn't wear anything to scanty. Quite modest, actually. Simple black skinny jeans, a nice satin top and heels. I had my jacket on, because it was cold inside the house.

I was drinking tea instead of my usual coffee (how I miss it), waiting for Edward to come down. It was not like him to take a while to get ready. But I wasn't fussed at the moment.

When he finally came down, he seemed to look a little nervous. Goodness knows why. Worried about me? Was he concerned that I would have another Sydney incident? That's what we call my little faint on stage in Sydney.

I couldn't dwell on this for long, because we had to leave. The limo picks us up, already having picked up Steve, Liss and Adam. They each give a 'hi' as we get in. We don't say much on the way there. Just odd comments about the weather, make-up tools and amplifiers.

When we get there, there are more people than I thought. We drive past them, going around the back. I am grateful for that.

Security people rush us in. Apparently we're a little late. Liss starts work on me straight away, even though I had done most of it myself this morning. My mood is not as hyped up as it normally is. I don't feel like smiling. Maybe it's just one of those moods.

The show starts with the Black Eyed Peas. I read the set list; I am on very last. Huh. Save the best till last. The number of songs each artist is performing is next to the name. I notice I have three down next to mine. I thought I was only doing two? Must be a typo. Or Steve sent in the details before Edward convinced him otherwise.

I am watching Green Day play their set, when Edward joins me. He rubs my shoulders.

"Are you nervous?" he asks.

"Not really. I usually am, at least a little bit. I don't know, I'm not really feeling anything at the moment," I tell him honestly. He gives my a sympathetic half-smile.

"Well, I hope after today you feel happy."

"I most likely won't," I state.

"Oh, you will. How could you not, after my surprise?" I look at him, and he winks. Surprise? I hate surprises. And he knows it. I instantly want to know what it is. I open my mouth to bug him but he says: "I'm not saying a thing."

Hmph.

Lady GaGa is now on. Ohh, that explains her being at the airport. I recognise the song, so I start humming along.

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance  
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance  
Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga Ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance

Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga Ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance

I want your ugly  
I want your disease  
I want your everything  
As long as it's free  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love

I want your drama  
The touch of your hand  
I want you leather-studded kiss in the sand  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love

You know that I want you  
And you know that I need you  
I want it bad  
Your bad romance

I want your loving  
And I want your revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance  
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!)  
I want your loving  
All your love is revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance

Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga Ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance

I want your horror  
I want your design  
'Cause you're a criminal  
As long as your mine  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love, uhh

I want your psycho  
Your vertical stick  
Want you in my room  
When your baby is sick  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love  
Love-love-love  
I want your love

You know that I want you  
And you know that I need you  
('Cause I'm a free bitch, baby!)  
I want it bad  
Your bad romance

I want your loving  
And I want your revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance  
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!)  
I want your loving  
All your love is revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance

Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga Ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance

Walk-walk fashion baby  
Work it  
move that bitch crazy  
Walk-walk fashion baby  
Work it  
move that bitch crazy  
Walk-walk fashion baby  
Work it  
move that bitch crazy  
Walk-walk passion baby  
Work it  
I'm a free bitch baby

I want your love  
And I want your revenge  
I want your love  
I don't wanna be friends

J'veux ton amour  
Et je veux ton revenge  
J'veux ton amour  
I don't wanna be friends

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
(I don't wanna be friends)  
Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance

(I don't wanna be friends)  
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!  
(Want your bad romance)  
Caught in a bad romance  
(Want your bad romance)

I want your loving  
I want your revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance  
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!)  
I want your loving  
All your love is revenge  
You and me could write a bad romance

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
(Want your bad romance)  
Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance  
(Want your bad romance)  
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!  
(Want your bad romance)  
Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!  
Caught in a bad romance

Rah rah ah-ah-ah!  
Ro mah ro-mah-mah  
Gaga Ooh-la-la!  
Want your bad romance

She's a good performer, I'll give her that. Nice heels.

As my act creeps closer, I want to go home even more. I mean, benefits are great, but I'd rather be at home, wallowing in self pity.

30 Seconds to Mars are on before me, and they're after Muse. One of my favourite bands Muse is. They play _Hysteria_ and _Uprising_. Good songs.

I start to warm up as 30 Seconds to Mars goes on. They walk past me, and the drummer gives me a wink. Ugh, that's awkward… I remember waking up next to him at some point…

They finish with a roar of the crowd. I decide to make my traditional entry from behind the backdrop, witch is not so fancy. I hope they won't mind if I tear a hole in it…

At the end of my set, I'm totally ready to get out of there as fast as possible. I go off with a wave of my hand. To my surprise, no one seems to be packing up. Was there another act? Oh well.

I start to look for Edward, but I can't see him anywhere. I locate Steve.

"Hey, have you seen Edward anywhere?" I ask blandly.

"Yes. But I'm not telling you where he is, it'll ruin his surprise," he answers with a grin.

"I'm really not in the mood for that. Can't I go home?" I pine.

"Nope. Definitely can't do that yet," he refuses, still smiling. I sigh.

Then I see him. I absent-mindedly turned my head towards the stage, as you do, and he was there. What was he doing there? Then I hear the back vocals sing a very familiar tune. Oh my god. How many times had I listened to this song on my iPod, the radio, hoping someone would sing it to me? I can't believe this is happening.

Then, the love of my life starts to sing.

Oh her eyes, her eyes  
Make the stars look like they're not shining  
Her hair, her hair  
Falls perfectly without her trying

She's so beautiful  
And I tell her every day

Yeah I know, I know  
When I compliment her  
She wont believe me  
And its so, its so  
Sad to think she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me do I look okay  
I say

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile,  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

Her lips, her lips  
I could kiss them all day if she'd let me  
Her laugh, her laugh  
She hates but I think its so sexy

She's so beautiful  
And I tell her every day

Oh you know, you know, you know  
I'd never ask you to change  
If perfect is what you're searching for  
Then just stay the same

So don't even bother asking  
If you look okay  
You know I'll say

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile,  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

The way you are  
The way you are  
Girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

When I see your face  
There's not a thing that I would change  
Cause you're amazing  
Just the way you are  
And when you smile,  
The whole world stops and stares for a while  
Cause girl you're amazing  
Just the way you are

A tear rolls down my cheek when he turns to look at me. He holds out his hand. He wants me to join him. Is he serious? I shake my head; I'm not going out there in a state like this. He frowns. He walks towards me, grabs my hand and drags me out. How rude. He smiles at me. He pulls me to the middle of the stage, and hugs me. A collective "awwww!" is heard from the crowd. Then he kisses me.

And I forget all of my worries.


	16. Setting Things Straight

**Well, I hoped you liked the last chapter. Cute huh? :)**

**For a moment, I considered ending it there. But there's issues left unsolved. So there are more chapters to come! Yay :D**

I decided I wasn't going to let them get me down. They could write all they wanted about me, I didn't care. My career was as strong as ever. Although, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit worried.

I was reluctant to go out for lunch as Edward suggested, but bearing the above in mind, I grabbed my coat and we headed out.

My bump was growing bigger by the day. Well, it's coming up to 5 months now. I'll have to start planning for after… names, cribs, telling my family… that should be fun.

I told Alice first. Right after we came home from the doctor's I was straight on the phone with her. Not only did I need to tell someone, but I was also looking for advice. I start to remember our conversation…

_1 ring. 2 rings. 3 rings. Ugh, hurry up Alice! This is unbearable._

"_Hello?" Ah, thank God._

"_Alice. It's Bella." I gasp._

"_Oh hey! How's things?" she asks. I can't answer, because I'm starting to hyperventilate. "Bella? What's wrong?" I try to speak, but all I can come up with is 'I'm'. "Bella, calm down girl. Deep breaths. What's going on?" I do as she says, and take a deep breath._

"_My life is turning upside down. I honestly don't know what to do!" I start to babble._

"_Bella, cut the crap, would you? What's. Wrong?" she almost yells._

"_Alice, I'm pregnant," I say sadly._

"_That's great! And your problem with this is…?"_

"_I _can't_ be pregnant at the moment, Alice! I mean, we're leaving for Australia in a week! If I tell Edward, he'll insist that we stay in America, and then the press will find out, and make my life more miserable than it already is…" I blubber._

"_Bella…I really don't know what you're looking for from me. What do you want me to say?" she asks._

"_I need advice. Should I tell him?"_

"_Eventually you will have to. I mean, how long can you lie to him for?" she wonders._

"Bella?" I voice pulls me out of my reminiscing. Edward is looking at me with a confused look. I realised I had missed what he'd said.

"Sorry, what?"

"I was asking you what you wanted."

"Oh, um… I don't know," I say honestly. Edward sighs.

"Do you want to go home?" he asks with concern.

"No, no. I'm ok," I assure him for the hundredth time today. He doesn't seem to believe me, so I smile. To my relief he smiles back.

I look at the menu, and see that there was not many vegetarian options. Where were we? I don't remember coming in… The name on the menu says _Saffron_ _Kingdom_. Oh I know where we are now. The Indian place we often get take-out from. Well I know what I want now.

The waitress comes to our table, and asks us if we are ready to order (for the third time, Edward tells me later). I order Vegetable Korma with Saffron Rice. Edward orders Butter Chicken (with an apologetic look at me) and pappadums. She gives us some Naan bread as a starter. I rip off a bit and eat it hungrily. I didn't realise how hungry I was until now. My stomach rumbles impolitely.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward asks me softly.

"Nothing in particular… just, the future. Before I was remembering when I told Alice about bub-to-be." I smile.

"Ah. I didn't know you told her. How'd she take it?"

"She said it was great, and that she was happy for me. Us, I mean," I correct myself at the end. Nothing should ever concern just me anymore. Of course I don't mention that I told Alice before him. He smiles. Will I ever get used to his perfection? Everyday I wonder how I managed to call him mine. The baby kicks hard at my belly. I groan.

"What is it?" Edward asks with worry. I sigh. Worrying, always worrying.

"He- she-. _They_ are just kicking. They kick the worst when my heart beats fast… which is every time I look at you…" I blush. He laughs, a joyous laugh that is my favourite sound in the world.

At that moment, our food comes. The waitress sets it down on our table, but the wrong way round. The smell of chicken makes me grimace. I swap the plates as soon as she is out of sight. Edwards laughs at my expression as I shove his plate away. I start eating straight away, my hunger taking over. It was good.

"You're getting hungrier by the day," Edward chuckles.

"Well, I'm eating for two here."

"It's good though. You never seemed to eat much before. Maybe the baby will make you put on some much needed weight," he states. I roll my eyes. Like I haven't heard _that_ before. Not just from him, but from everybody. Alice, Steve, doctors, my old gym teachers… I'm just skinny. Fast metabolism and all that.

Mid bite into a potato, my cell phone rings. I don't even have to look at the Caller ID to know who it is.

"Steve. What's up?"

"Bella. We need you to come to the office," he says urgently.

"Ok. Why?"

"I'll tell you when you get there. And quickly please Bella, we don't have a lot of time." He hangs up. I put my phone back in my pocket, slightly annoyed. I quickly finish as much of my lunch as I can, before pushing the plate away. Edward gives me a confused look.

"We have to go to the studio," I tell him, getting my purse out.

"Now?" he asks. I nod to answer him, as I put a fifty in the cheque book, letting them keep the change as tip. I grab my bag and walk out, pulling Edward by the hand with me.

I don't know why Steve would want me down there now. What could be so urgent that it couldn't possibly wait until I had finished my lunch? We walk along the street, ignoring the odd camera we see along the way. We make it to the studio; Steve is waiting out the front.

"Steve. What's going on?" I ask again.

"Come inside," he says quietly. Meanwhile, I'm going crazy. I don't like not knowing things. I hate surprises, as Edward quickly learned. We go inside though, following him in. I'm still holding Edward's hand.

The small office is cramped. There are several people in addition to Steve, Edward and I. All of whom I don't know.

"Great, you're finally here. We can get started," one of the men says to me.

"We can't start until Rosalie gets here," Steve says to him. Rosalie? My gorgeous, blonde, reliable lawyer? Why is she coming? Steve sighs, turning to me. "Bella this is Mike Newton, a reporter for _Celeb Weekly_. Apparently we have some things to set straight," Steve explains. A reporter? Hmm.

"It would be good to get your side of the story. It would make for a good read as well, good for the magazine. And you get to set things straight, as your manager said. Let me introduce Angela Weber, the editor-in-chief, and Tyler Crowley, our photographer." I shake hands with both of them. I think I may have gone to school with Angela, her named sounded familiar. Well that was awkward. Although, now I understood why Rosalie was coming. They're always present in all interviews, just in case the questions got too personal or accusing.

We hear the door open, and we know that my lawyer is indeed, here. I get the satisfaction of seeing Mike Newton's eyes pop out of his head as Rosalie walks into the room. Rosalie is definitely the most gorgeous girl I've met in my life. Prettier than all the celebrities in L.A. put together. And she hasn't had any work done to get those looks. Purely natural.

"Right, well. I'm here now, so can we start, so I can get home to Emmet as soon as possible?" Emmet, her husband. A intimidating figure, with his massive build and square face, but was a gentle giant. I watched Mike Newton's eyes drop to her ringed finger on her left hand, with a depressed look. I couldn't help but giggle a little.

Mike motioned for me to sit down in the chair opposite him. As I did, Tyler clicked his camera. I had to ignore him, otherwise I would lose my train of thought and start focusing on the facial expressions I was making.

"So, should I call you Penny, or do you prefer Bella?"

"Either is fine."

"Well, Bella, first of all, congratulations! Not only for your most recent tour, but also your pregnancy!"

"Thanks."

"So is this baby indeed your boyfriend's; Edward?"

"Certainly is," I answer proudly.

"His ex, Jessica is not so pleased to hear this news. She has spoken out to before, about how you allegedly 'stole' Edward from her. What do have to say to that statement?"

"Well, in some respects, it is true, I did kind of steal him in a way. But in other respects, it is not true, as they were broken up a little while before we started going out. Mostly I think she's desperate to get him back. And I don't blame her," I giggle.

"There are rumours that a cat fight was held between her and yourself, in the streets of Melbourne, in Australia. Is this true?"

"Again, yes and no. She was in Melbourne the same time as us, and she did approach us. However, it was backstage at the gig, not on the street for everyone to see. And no violence was used." The bitch owed me for that one. I was nice enough not to say that she practically attacked Edward.

"Right. Now, about your collapse on stage in Sydney…?"

"Ah, yes. Well, see that was caused by a mixture of morning sickness, dehydration and stress, I think. I was dizzy before that, but I was fighting it. It got the better of me in the end…"

"This was during your pregnancy?"

"Yes, the third month."

"Surely your manager wouldn't have let you perform if he had known?"

"Well, see… he didn't… I had neglected to tell him at that point in time."

"And why is that?"

"I would rather not divulge that bit of information, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Now about your recent participation in the Los Angeles Annual Benefit." I nod. "And Edward's…"

"That, was a complete surprise," I say, giving Edward a glare, which he grins at.

"Now that we know he can sing, are there any plans to act on it? I mean, dating a celebrity such as yourself would surely put you in a good position for a record deal, am I right?"

"Well, I'm working on that. He's being… stubborn, but I think I can convince him to at least _feature_ on my new album… whoops. And I'm coming out with a new album soon," I mumble, embarrassed that I'd let that slide so easily. I see Steve glare at me. I blush.

"That's great! On both parts."

"Are there any songs planned on your new album that are about your new found love?" he asks, gesturing towards Edward.

"Maybe… it's a surprise," I say, grinning.

"Well, Bella, I'm going to end it there, I think I've got all I need. Thanks very much," he says, shaking my hand again.

"No problem." I stand up and go to Edward's side. Steve walks over to us.

"I think that went well. Great job, Bella," he says to me.

"Thanks. It's not like I haven't done it a million times," I remind him.

"I know," he answers, smiling.

I talk to Rose for a bit; it seems Emmet got in a fight and lost (which is a first for him, I think), so Rose wanted to get home right away to take care of him. I let her go.

Mike and his crew don't stay long. And my suspicions were confirmed when Angela briefly talked to me. I congratulated her on her success, and she blushed and said something about 'never living up to me' and whatnot, before leaving with her team.

Steve praised me again, mentioned something about the album, then let us go home.

It was almost 6 o'clock when we got home. I made myself some tea (which, I must admit, was my substitute coffee at the moment) and collapsed on the couch. Edward did the same.

We started to watch _Catch Me If You Can_ on TV. I started to drift off to sleep.

I feel asleep in my favourite place of all; Edward's arms.

What a day.

**I'm not one of those people who say "I won't publish the next chapter until I get _ reviews", because being an avid reader as well, I know how frustrating that can be. But reviews are nice :) So yeah, feel free to leave one :D**


	17. Dark Storms

I was having a good week. The paps had laid off me for a while; I was wasn't interesting anymore. I had another ultrasound. It was all going well, no abnormalities at all. Needless to say, we were both very pleased. I got invited to Taylor Lautner's 18th, but I unhappily turned it down. Edward's motion mostly. Shame, it would have cool to have met Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Apparently they look Edward and I.

Edward made up for it by cooking me dinner. I didn't even know he could cook. When I asked me, he just smiled and said: "Food Network". I raised one eyebrow at that. At any rate, it was delicious.

The good week turned into a good month. I was getting larger by the day, but it didn't worry me, what with Edward reminding how beautiful I looked everyday. By the time I was 6 and a half months, I couldn't see my feat. The doctor's told me I was due in June. I didn't know if he or she would be on time, because I was early, or so my mom said, when she was she was sober once. That's right, once. I didn't see her sober very often.

But all good things must come to an end.

I was in the studio, sipping my cup of tea, when Steve comes barging into the room. I was about to tell to cool it, but the look on his face told he would have bit my head off if I did. He plonks a magazine in front of me. It was _Celeb Weekly_, the magazine that had interviewed me a month ago. The main story was about me. The title on the front cover was: _Penny's Secrets Revealed_. I stared at it for a while, then turned to the article.

_**Penny's Secrets Revealed: the pop star's secrets from the last few months explained**_

_No need to say Bella Swan's life has been a mess lately. She confirmed her pregnancy, of which she was indeed her boyfriend Edward's. Edward Cullen, the reason behind the trouble with Jessica Stanley. _

_Jessica Stanley, who spoke to us several months ago, claims that the star' stole' Edward off of her. Bella did not deny this. _

"_It is true, I did kind of steal him in a way. Mostly I think she's desperate to get him back."_

_During her trip to Melbourne, Australia, for her most recent tour, a cat fight was fought backstage at the show. However, she insists that no violence was used. This is a contradiction to Jessica Stanley's statement, who insisted that Bella attacked her. A lie to cover herself? _

"_She did approach us."_

_Also during the tour, Bella had a 'dizzy spell' on stage, causing her to collapse. She claims that: "It was a combination of morning sickness, dehydration and stress." She admits that she hadn't told her manager, Steve Fielding, about her pregnancy, and her dizziness before the show. She would not tell us why. Afraid of being judged? Is there something she was hiding? Afraid of telling others, such as the father or her child? All valid questions._

_Speaking of her boyfriend, Edward, his most recent performance at the Los Angeles Annual Charity Benefit has sparked rumours that it will launch him into the same profession as his famous girlfriend. _

"_He's being stubborn, I'm working on that," Bella said, when I mentioned it to her. While talking about songs and albums, she let slip that she would be releasing a new album shortly. Will Edward feature on it?_

_At any rate, it is a certainty that Penny's new album will not sell as well as her last one. The events in her life at the moment cannot be ignored. They have turned her life upside down, and sales of her other albums are going down. _

_My prediction is that her career will be dead within the next year. No one wants to buy songs from a boyfriend-stealing, fainting washed-up pop star. It's a sad thing, but it's true._

_Nice knowing you, Bella Swan._

_- Mike Newton_

I read the last line five times before it sunk in. They had double crossed me. Made me think I was settling the score, when really I was only making it worse for myself. Paraphrasing and out of context references are the bitches. Now I understood why Steve was so angry.

It was rather ironic that they had said I would fail, as their article would soon do that for me.

That one line was bouncing through my head like a rubber ball. _Nice knowing you, Bella Swan._ It was the nail in my coffin, the final straw for my career. I threw the magazine on the floor. I didn't want to look at it anymore. Edward picked it up and read it. His face quickly mirrored Steve's.

"Get Rosalie on the phone," Edward said angrily.

"She can't help us. Paraphrasing isn't illegal. Besides, the interview was perfectly legit, it's not the law's business what they do with the information," he said, just as angrily.

I couldn't be angry. I didn't feel anything. It was like my brain had detached from my body, I just sat there, with a blank look on my face. Edward sat across the room with his head in his hands.

Despite how I felt, I didn't to see Edward that way.

"This article won't change anything," I said, even though I knew I was lying, even before I said it.

"Don't be stupid. It will change everything Bella," Edward says quietly, managing to control his temper.

"You don't know that."

"How could it not!" he shouted. He had lost it. He stood up angrily, walking over to me. "People will read it and believe it. They are going do exactly what Mike said they will. They're not going to buy your album," he said more quietly. Mike had said it, but the words coming from Edward's mouth was more hurtful than the article itself. I felt the tears spill over.

Through my watery eyes, I could see Edward standing over me, the magazine still in his hand. He wasn't looking at me. He was staring angrily out the window. I sob, wiping my eyes. He turns to me, and realises that I'm crying. He reaches out to stroke my cheek the way he usually does. But he pulls his hand back, replacing it by his side. I looked up him, questioning. It was not normal for Edward to not comfort me.

Edward stares at me, but his eyes are not warm. It's not the same.

He goes to the bin, chucks the magazine, and walks out.

This couldn't be happening. I can't deal with it. I follow him, running to keep up. I saw him go out the door, even though it was raining outside. I caught up to him, getting soaked from head to toe.

"Edward!" I called. He didn't turn, so I called again. When I reached him, I pulled his arm, to make him turn. He did. He didn't speak, so I started first. "What are you doing?" I ask loudly, over the rain.

"I can't deal with this anymore! Your career will be gone in a matter of months!"

"So you my career's over, now you don't want me anymore? She's done, move on to the next one?" I cry.

"No, I just…"

"What, Edward? Are you going to leave, or should we wait until the baby's born before you break my heart?" I sob, still getting drenched.

"I can't deal with the stress anymore! I want a normal life! One with no secrets or rumours! One where you go out without having to worry about people following you! One where you can just live!" He shouted. I could see it in his head, us, a normal family, living a normal life. I could see it all. And I wanted it.

"It will be like that soon! When my career goes down the toilet no one will follow us ever again!"

"It will never be like that, Bella," he said more quietly. He turned and walked away from me, shaking his head. Then I really broke down. I collapsed in the street, almost lying in the puddles. I didn't care, I was soaked to skin anyway.

After a little while, someone helped me up. I didn't see who it was, but they put me in a car and dropped me off at my house. It might have been Steve.

I shuffled into the house, going up the stairs at a snail's pace. I headed straight for the shower. I noticed the door on Edward's old room was closed. He was still staying here, but he wouldn't be in the same room as me. I didn't ponder his reasons behind it for very long, because the warm water engulfed me and my thoughts very quickly. For twenty minutes I stood there, letting the water unfreeze me.

Eventually I had to get out though. I changed into dry clothes; my pyjamas. Recently washed and dried; they were still warm. I shuffled back into my room. I unthinkedly climbed into my bed, reaching out for the warm arms that weren't there. Realising that they might never be there again, I started to cry. And I couldn't stop.

I cried myself to sleep, even though it was only the late hours of the afternoon. It felt like night, either because of the dark storm, or the dark feelings that clouded my mind.

Each movement in my bed sent in a new wave of tears, because each time I moved, it reminded me that there was no one else here.

I slept all through the night, waking up at intervals of around two hours. Nightmares flooded my head each time I fell asleep.

It was of him, walking away from me, in the rain. Replayed in my head, over and over. It would not get out of my head.

The last time I woke up, it was not because of a nightmare. The dream I had had was of Edward, singing _Just The Way You Are_ to me, at the Benefit. How I wanted that dream to be real. I looked at my clock; it claimed it was 7 in the morning.

Then it hit me. I didn't think, I jumped out of my bed and ran to hallway. I stood near Edward's door. The words and memories filled my head, I didn't need to hear the pitch of the first note.

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change, cause you're amazing, just the way you are!" I sang loudly, almost shouting. I gasped for air, breathing heavily. The door stayed shut. "When you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while, cause you're amazing, just the way you are!" I shouted the last line. Then I heard a noise from inside his room. The door creaked, and slowly opened, to him, staring wide-eyed at me.

"Singing won't fix things, Bella," he said quietly.

"Wait, please can we just talk about this?" I reasoned, trying to buy at least some time to look at him.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said bluntly. He started to close the door, but I put my hand against it. He looked at me.

"I don't care about it anymore. The fame, I mean. It means nothing to me. I would much rather trade it all in for you. We could move to Australia, have the baby there. Or move to some remote island where no one would bother us. I'll say that I'm retiring, and tell reporters to piss off. I can't live without you. I'd set fire to the house and give all my money to charity if it meant I got to keep you," I said in a rush.

He opened the door fully.

"You would?" he asked with warmth in eyes. I nodded sincerely. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into a sweet hug. The tears overflowed again, but not with sadness, with joy. I hugged him back, knowing that I would never have to be without these arms again. "Shhhh, it's ok…" he murmured into my ear.

"I'm so sorry," I managed to say between sobs.

"No, I'm sorry. I should never have thought that way. I could never leave you, as much as I try," he said, chuckling a little bit. I looked up at him, kissing him with all my strength. The tears were still running down my face, but I was smiling. We had got through the worst of it, and now we had to endure the rest.

"Are we really going to move to Australia?" he asked, when I had finished kissing him.

"Well, yes, if that's what you want. Personally I think it's a great idea," I said, grinning.

"I would love to," he grinned back.

Suddenly my life wasn't so dark anymore.


	18. Movin' On Out

**Time passes quickly in this chapter, because nothing really happens! :P**

The next month was… better in some respects, worse in others.

My sales from my most recent album had gone down, and my sales in general were declining. Not as many paps bothered with me anymore. That was good and bad. People on the street didn't exclaim "Penny!" in excitement anymore. Some gave me dirty looks. Gossip shows and late night talk shows made me the butt of their jokes.

But I would be out of here soon enough. Edward and I were moving away from America, to the country I had fallen in love with. We had to leave soon, or I would have the baby here, which would delay us. I was 7 and a half months along when we told Steve. I told him that I wouldn't be making any more albums, and that my tour to Australia was my last one. I had plenty of cash in my account, and if I needed more, I could come out with a 'greatest hits' album.

I was keeping my house in L.A, just in case we ever decided to move back. I decided to rent it out, as a source of income, just in case. I would be selective in who I rented it out to though, it was important to me.

Steve was not pleased with our decision. That was an understatement. Not just for the sake of managing me from afar, but we were friends. We would miss one another.

Alice was not exactly happy about it either. She already hated the distance between us, living on the other side of the country from each other, and now I was extending that distance. But none the less, she was happy with whatever I wanted to do.

Edward had gotten a new phone and changed his number because of Jessica's constant and annoying calls, but somehow she had gotten the new one. I remember the call, even though I couldn't hear the other voice…

"Jessica? How did you get this number? I care! Why are you calling me anyway? Oh for heaven's sake, there is no chance of 'us' anymore. Surely you would have gotten that by now. And for your information, Bella and I are moving away from America. It's none of your business where we're going. Now go away, before I get a restraining order put on you." He threw his phone at the wall after he hung up. Scared the living daylights out of me.

Packing had become a common thing over the past month. Cardboard boxes filled the halls, and our room was only half full. Getting emptier by the day. Sitting on our bed, staring at the blank walls and empty shelves and cupboards, slowly packing our life away into boxes.

But it was for a good reason. Soon I would escape this country, for good, with my love, and start a family, the right way.

I always knew that bringing a child up in the Hollywood world would be a challenge, it was something I had considered since I found out I was pregnant. It was nice to not have to worry about it anymore. And I was glad as well. Would rather not expose my child to such a corrupt and deceitful environment.

The phone rang downstairs, shrill and demanding. I heard Edward race to get it. Knowing who it would be, I walked out of our bedroom, heading downstairs. I grabbed a full box on the way. In the box was all my music things. Sheet music, manuscript books, instructional books for guitar and piano (not that I was very good at either of them), my box of picks, my capo and my tuner. I didn't often need the last one, but it came in handy if I wasn't sure. You can never tell if something is out of tune to the degree that the tuner can.

I heard Edward on the phone, hissing at the person on the other end. From his expression, it could only be one person.

Steve, trying to convince us to stay in Hollywood. As I said, he was not happy with us.

It was an issue I hadn't dealt with yet. How to say goodbye. To my colleagues, my friends. A party maybe? Or would that make it too real? That we were leaving, and most likely never coming back.

Edward puts down the phone, frowning. I stroke his face, trying to smooth out the worry lines.

"If you keep worrying, those lines are going to become permanent…" I mutter, half to myself. He smiles, catching my hand on his cheek and holding it there. He sighs.

"I can't wait to get out of here," he says quietly.

"What day are we leaving?" We hadn't booked the flight yet, so I ask him, hoping he'd made a decision about it.

"I decided on the 5th of March. That gives us two week and 5 days to get everything ready. I booked the tickets this morning."

"Sounds great," I say. I count backwards in my head, because I hadn't figured out the date. I walk over to the calendar by the kitchen. I stare at the date. I had totally forgotten what today was.

"Bella? What's up?" Edward asks curiously. I look up at him, panicking. Today is the 14th of February; Valentine's Day. And I didn't get him anything. Not even a box of cheap chocolates.

"Today is Valentine's Day," I say calmly, hiding my anxiety nicely. He laughs.

"I was wondering when you would notice," he chuckles. He pulls a tiny box out of his back pocket. The box has velvet on the outside, and looks like… Oh. My. God.

He holds it out to me. I eagerly take it and open it, steadying myself. I wonder in my head why he wasn't down on one knee. As I open it, I see shiny… earrings. Dang…

Hiding my slight disappointment, I smile wide. They were gorgeous, and they looked expensive. They were studs, with an teardrop shape hanging off them, each encrusted with jewels, that looked to be diamonds. They sparkle as I move them in the light. I look up at him, smiling as wide as I can. No engagement for me today, but they were a beautiful gift. I hug him and kiss him tenderly; my way of saying thank you. Then the panic sets back in. He notices.

"Bella? What's wrong? Do you not like them? I can replace them with another pair if you'd like - "

"No, no, I love them! It's just… I kind of forgot about today… I don't exactly have anything for you…" I say sheepishly. He laughs, stroking my what must have been worried face.

"I wasn't expecting anything love, it's ok. I just wanted to let you know that I love you," he says softly.

"By buying me these?" I say, a little sarcastically. "I don't need any reminders. If you didn't love me, you wouldn't be here. You would have left a while ago…" I flinch at the thought of it.

"That's true. But I do love buying you things…" He grins. I roll my eyes, lazily glancing at the phone. When it rings, it makes me jump. When I recover from my mini heart-attack, I walk over to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Bella! It's Elisa!" Liss' child-like voice fills my ear.

"Liss! Oh gosh, it's been a little while since I've seen you. We need to catch up, before we…" I couldn't finish my sentence.

"I know, that's what I wanted to talk to you about! So, I was wondering what day you were leaving…?"

"Well, we've decided on the 5th of March, exactly a month before I'm due," I add on at the end.

"Hmmm… ok… well, I wanted to organise something. We could go shopping on… let's say, the 3rd?" I can picture her n my head, smiling, but sad on the inside. I would miss her.

"Sure, sounds good," I say.

"Coolies. See you then!"

"See ya," I say, hanging up.

I tell Edward about our plans, and he said it was ok.

It felt odd sometimes, like I was asking him for permission. Hopefully I could stop that when the baby's born. So he doesn't worry about me so much anymore. But that was impossible of course.

I shuffle over to the kitchen, still feeling guilty about the whole present thing. A knock on the door startles me. I'm awfully jumpy today…

Edward goes to answer it, wary of who it could be. He sighs in relief however, when he sees that it is the removal man.

"Come to collect ya stuff for shipping, sir," I hear him say.

"Right. The boxes we have lined up along this wall are to be shipped at the moment. Also, the sofa in the lounge upstairs is to be shipped, and the furniture from the 2nd master bedroom, as well as all the guest rooms," Edward says calmly. The removalist nods. He calls to his workers, who stumble in and start moving our things.

Over the next few weeks, more and more stuff is removed. The house was becoming more and more desolate.

On the 2nd of March, all we had left in the house was our bed, some of our clothes, and our essentials. It was a little depressing, but also good, because it was becoming real.

Our house in Australia was not as big as this one, but fairly large compared to other houses in the area. Cost us 1.2 million. No problem for us, since we sold our current house for 3.5 million. We sold it to P!nk and her husband, who were also expecting. Lovely people.

We were to be living in Melbourne, by far my favourite city out of all the ones we visited. Our house was close to the city, but not in the heart of it. Toorak, I think it was called. We heard it was the rich part of the are around Melbourne.

I was getting ready to go shopping with Liss the next day, putting on my make up, and choosing what jewellery I would wear, out of the little selection that was still in the house.

Liss had said to meet at the studio, which was a little odd. Couldn't we just meet at the mall? I asked her, and she said after a while "We have to go to the mall together, it's better that way…" She didn't sound like she was convinced of this answer at all.

Edward went out, to do some last minute things before we left. He chuckled as he said to have fun with your "shopping thing", making inverted commas with his hands as he said it. I rolled my eyes. Boys. They just didn't get it.

I grab my purse and head out the door, and I drive to the studio. I have a slight pain in my back, but nothing unmanageable. Nothing to stop me from shopping.

I get out as I reach the studio, opening the door I had opened so many times before. A twinge of pain shoots though me as I realise this would be the last time I would open it.

It's awfully dark inside, I wonder where Liss is… I flip on lights as I go, but no sign of her. I reach the main studio and flip on the light.

"SURPRISE!" I jump back as a bunch of people shout at me. A surprise party? The banner hanging from the ceiling says "Bon Voyage". It was a going away party. Elisa comes up to me, grinning. I point at her, wanting to say something, but not being able to. I bet I look like a fish. She laughs at my dumb-founded expression.

"Surprise!" she says again. I hug her enthusiastically. She's still laughing as she says "You're welcome Bella." I look up, to see Edward grinning.

"You were in on it?" I almost yell at him. He nods and grins sheepishly. I wrap my arms around him, with as much force as I had hugged Elisa. Then something twinged inside me. It was like the baby was kicking, but much more painful. I bend over in shock.

Then I felt the water, it was like I had wet my pants. I had seen enough movies to know what this meant. Edward hovers over me as another twinge of pain hits me.

"Bella? What's wrong?" he whispers. I look up at him.

"My water just broke," I say bluntly. His eyes open wide. Another shot of pain rips through me; they were getting worse each time. I collapse with a huff. People notice.

Then I am off the floor, in Edward's arms.

"Where are you going?" Steve asks as Edward walks past, holding me.

"To the hospital," Edward answers calmly. "Bella's having her baby."

**:D Hoped you liked the chapter. Now the challenge; writing the birth… :S **

**Thank you for all your reviews and kind words, the keep me going :)**


	19. The Fight

"That was the shortest party I've ever been to," I gasp.

"Trust you to be making jokes while you're in labour…" Edward, sitting by my hospital bed while I am struck by pain at regular intervals.

The doctor said that I wasn't dilated enough for the spinal block, as it would run out before delivery…

He also said I couldn't have an epidural because I was allergic to paracetamol, and it might have similar effects.

I wasn't really listening, I was too busy trying to claw Edward's hand off. He has been holding my hand for the entire eight hours I've already been here. Bless him. He must be dead bored. Although, the look on his face says otherwise. It's a mixture of worry, excitement and nervousness.

I look up at him, smiling a weak smile. He smiles back. I can see the doctor coming in, and sigh. Checking to see hoe dilated I am. Again.

I keep looking at Edward while he works, trying not to pay attention to anything but my love. He seems awfully calm… well, calmer than me anyways.

The doctor walks around my bed, to one side.

"Well, you're coming along nicely, quicker than usual, but I'm sure that's a good thing on your behalf.. I'd say another few hours and we'll be ready to deliver. If you would like to walk around the ward, feel free. I've heard that it helps," he suggests. I nod, but don't consider it. I don't think I actually _can_ walk.

The doctor walks out, and Edward squeezes my hand. A few more hours. I could handle it. I jinxed it, because a wave of pain hits me; I arch my back and grit my teeth. They were getting worse. Which meant it was getting closer right?

I didn't know how long the delivery would be. I hope to god that it's not long. I don't know how long I can keep from screaming. I don't want to worry Edward. Then I thought of someone else that should probably be aware of my current state.

"Edward?" I sighed.

"Yes, love?"

"Can you call Alice for me? Her number's on speed dial 3 on my phone…" I ask him.

"Of course," he says blankly. He grabs my phone and dials.

"Hello Alice, it's Edward. I'm well thank you, and yourself? That's good to know. I was calling to tell you that Bella's in labour at the moment." I hear a squeal on the other end. I giggle as Edward holds the phone away from his ear. "Yes, I'm serious. You don't have to do that… well, if you insist. I'm Bella would happy to see you. I will. Goodbye Alice," he says, hanging up calmly.

"She says that she's flying down ASAP. And she also said that she'll stay a while if necessary." I smile. That is so like Alice. To drop everything and come and see me.

The intervals of pain got worse and worse. I passed the time by staring at Edward. We didn't need to talk. Every now and again I would grit my teeth and dig my nails into his hand. I wasn't going to scream. It would only torture him.

Every hour, the doctor would come back. Saying the same thing every time. "A few more hours". It was driving me insane.

"You know what? I think I'll go for a walk," I say confidently. Edward frowns.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. My ass hurts. All this waiting is driving me insane. And I'm hungry." I sit up and attempt to get out of bed. Edward helps me get up. It doesn't help that I can't see my feet. In my hospital robe and bare feet, I walk slowly out of my room.

We wander down the corridor, taking our time. I'd have to stop every 10 minutes ago, but the contractions were only mild. Walking did help.

We are walking back to my room when I spot a woman at the end who looks vaguely familiar. She comes closer, and I can see her clearly. I stare at her with shock.

The woman is wearing worn out designer clothes, and pink heels. Her hair is blonde, and in a general disarray. She has clearly had a boob job, and her cheek bones looked like they were about to break her skin; a sign of Botox. And a lot of it.

I recognise this woman instantly.

My mother.

What was she doing here? How did she even know I was here? Or was it plain coincidence? Did she get lost while going to the rehab ward. I gather not, as her box of cigarettes is poking out of her pocket.

"Mom?" I say, still in shock. Edward looks at me, also in shock.

"Oh Bella honey!"

"Do _not_ call me honey." The name she always called me as a child. She lost the right to call me honey the day she stole my private plane and half of my yearly earnings.

"But I'm so happy to see you! Look at you! You're… huge," she says, looking at my stomach.

"Gee thanks," I say sarcastically.

"I saw you in all the magazines. How you were pregnant, how you toured in Australia, how you were dating another girl's boyfriend…"

"Mom, don't. You should know better than to believe what you hear in those gossip magazines. Yes, I'm pregnant. Obviously. Yes, I toured in Australia. No, I did not date another girl's boyfriend. The girl and boyfriend in question were already broken up. Oh, speaking of which. I should probably formally introduce you. Mom, this is Edward, my boyfriend, and father of my child. We're moving to Australia in a short time, once this is all taken care of," I gesture to my tummy. "and we're most likely never coming back to America. So if that's all cleared up, can I please continue to have my baby in peace?" My mother stares at me as if I've gone mad. She doesn't say anything for a while.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying until my grandchild is born." She stamps her foot. A habit I unfortunately picked up as a child.

"Fine. But just stay out of the w-" I stop mid-sentence, as the contraction was too painful to speak. A _lot_ more painful than the last one. I can't hold it in for Edward's sake. I scream, and almost collapse.

"Bella!" two voices say. I feel a pair of hands pick me up and quickly take me to my bed. Another big one hits me just as hard. I groan loudly. I knew it, Edward knew it.

Our baby had finally decided to be born. I see Edward disappear for a moment. He comes back with the doctor and several nurses.

"Mom, get out," I manage to say, but I'm sure it didn't sound as menacing as I meant it to be. I see her shake her head. Where's something I can throw at her?

Edward strokes my face and holds my hand while the doctor and nurses get ready. I scream with the contraction, and see Edward flinch. Another contraction hits me, and I hunch over myself, groaning very loudly. The midwife next to me is telling me push. What a cliché. I collapse back on the pillow.

It's pitch black outside. And I'm in here, fourteen hours and counting. The pain is unbelievable. I broke my arm once. I take a broken arm a million times over this pain. Take it and be happy.

I can feel the baby moving out. It's a strange sensation. Every contraction, every push meant my baby was closer to freedom. Every push is somehow satisfying.

Edward was there, holding my hand and wiping the sweat off my face the entire time. I owe him everything.

At 20 hours, it was light again, and it felt like I had gotten nowhere. Of course, I had, but it felt like I hadn't made any progress, or at least not much.

"The baby's crowning!" the doctor says loudly. He had to be loud, so he could be heard over my screams.

The baby's crowning. That meant the head was almost out. I _was_ getting somewhere. I smile, happy with my progress. But the fight wasn't over yet.

I keep struggling and pushing, just wanting it to be over. Another hour goes by.

"Just one more push should do it," The doctor says to me.

I give it everything I have, and feel the baby escape.

"Well done Bella!" the midwife says to me. She beams. I smile a weak smile, to exhausted to say anything. I hear the cry of my newborn, and sigh in relief.

"A beautiful baby girl," the doctor sighs, handing her to me. They had cleaned her very quickly.

The tiny, warm thing cuddled into me. Her tiny beautiful face made me cry in joy. She was worth the fight.

Edward put his arm around me, grinning the biggest grin I've ever seen.

"What are you going to call her?" Edward asks.

"What do you mean 'I'? You have a say as well," I say, a little bit of strength returning to my voice.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe… Elizabeth?" he suggests.

"Elizabeth sounds perfect," I sigh. He leans down to kiss me, and I close the distance.

"I'm here! I'm here! No need to worry! Don't panic!" The shrill voice I hear is getting closer. Alice runs into the room, puffing. I grin at her. "I got here as soon as I could. What'd I miss?"

I can only smile at her little gasp as she notices the gorgeous tiny face in my arms.

Definitely worth the fight.


	20. Elizabeth

"Can I hold her? Pleeeeeease?" Alice asks in a whiny voice.

"Not yet, it's my turn,' Edward almost growls at her. I chuckle quietly. My mother, Renee is still here, but we're choosing to ignore her. She went and got coffee about 15 minutes ago. Or at least that's what she said she was doing. Alice and I both know that she probably ducked out for a smoke.

Elizabeth has gone to sleep in Edward's arms. Alice is bouncing up and down on her chair by my bed. I am sitting quietly in my bed, feeling pretty tired. More than anything, I just want to go home. The hospital smells funny, and the bed is uncomfortable.

"Alice, calm down, you'll get your turn," I say to her lethargically.

"But he's held her for like, an hour! Come on, I'm her aunt!"

"And I'm her _father_," Edward growls. I pat his hand soothingly.

"Do I get to hold her?" a quiet voice from the door asks. We all look in that direction, and the look on Alice's face immediately turns hostile. Renee has two coffee cups in her hands. She gives one to Edward, which he takes graciously with a small smile. She offers the other one to Alice. She however, snatches it and throws it hard into the nearest bin. She storms out. Renee sighs.

"Edward, I'm hungry. Could you please get me something to eat?" Edward takes the hint. He puts Elizabeth down in her crib next to the bed, gives me a kiss on my forehead, and walks out. Renee walks to the crib, looking down at Elizabeth with a gooey love in her eyes.

"She looks like you," my mother says quietly. I murmur, not really paying attention.

"Mom, why are you here?" I ask.

"I heard on the T.V. that you were in labour, and I knew you always come here, so I came to meet my granddaughter. I also wanted to see you honey, to straighten things out. I can't stand this distance between us."

"Yeah, the distance that you created…" I mumble tiredly.

"I know I screwed up. I know what I did was wrong. I should never have taken anything from you, much less your money, that you earned," she says apologetically.

"It's not just that, Mom. You were never around when Alice and I were kids. You left us to fend for ourselves, even when Dad went to jail. You never paid any attention to us, even when you were actually there. You never showed any signs that you loved us, or even acknowledged our existence. You were always clubbing and drinking. You would come home at 4 in the morning, drunk, and sometimes with a guy. You wouldn't wake up in the morning, which meant Alice and I had to walk to school, which was an hour walk. We always had this fear, that you would never wake up. You cried at the dinner table, you threw plates at the wall, you told us we were mistakes." She needed to know what she had done. I swore to Alice that I would never tell anyone, but she needed to know. "Mom, when we were teenagers, it was worse. We only had each other, Alice and I. It was the worst when you disappeared for 3 days. We didn't know where you were. We were worried, despite what you had done to us. When you came back, you burst through the door, drunk. A guy was with you. He looked drunk too. We went to hug you, but you pushed us away. You said to the guy "These are my bastards. Don't pay attention to them. They're like flies. If you stop paying attention to them, they don't bother you anymore." And with that, you pulled the guy up into your hole of a bedroom and didn't come out until the next morning. You didn't even notice that Alice was bleeding. That night, I was watching T.V, and I went to check on Alice, because she bandaging her cut. I found her in the bathroom, rope tied around the shower bar, about to kill herself. And she would have if I hadn't have gone in right at that moment."

Renee gasps and hangs her head.

"I never meant for… for that to… to happen," she sobs.

"Yeah, but it did."

My mother nods. "I know…"

"Mom, look. I really don't think you picked a good time to 'straighten things out'. I mean, I just had a baby. Alice just flew out, and I'm moving to Australia very soon. Maybe in the next year. But at the moment, I'm focused on other things."

"I understand," Renee says, still nodding her head. "Tell Alice I'm sorry."

"Tell her yourself," I say, gesturing toward the door, where Alice is now standing.

"Alice," our mother sighs. "I'm so sorry, to both of you. I was, and am, a terrible mother. That's going to change. I've been sober for over 6 months," she says proudly. I smile. Maybe this _is_ going to work out… in the future. Renee walks out, looking at Elizabeth. "She really is beautiful. Like her mother," she says with a smile. I smile back. I see Alice relax as Renee leaves the ward.

Alice takes it upon herself to pick Elizabeth up and cradle her. She smiles down at her niece with a love that only my sister could provide. Elizabeth fit in her arms perfectly. Edward and I had talked about it briefly, but I knew that there was only one choice.

"Alice, I would like to ask you something…" I say ominously, already knowing what the answer will be.

"Yes…?"

"I know you're already her aunt, but if anything were to happen to Edward and I, I want to make sure she'll be with the right people…"

"Spit it out, Bella," she says, annoyed. I chuckle.

"Alice, would you and Jasper like to be Elizabeth's godparents?"

The look on her face was priceless. I could probably fit my whole hand in her mouth, it was open _that_ wide.

"!" she squeals loudly. A little cry comes from her arms. I give her a frown as she passes my now awake baby to me.

"Sorry…" she says as quietly as she can.

"I'm guessing that's a yes though?" I grin at her. She grins back at me, nodding enthusiastically. I laugh.

"Well that settles that," I say sleepily. I want to go home.

Edward comes in, holding a sandwich in his hand. Thank goodness, I'm starving. After taking Elizabeth, he gives me the sandwich and I hungrily unwrap it from its plastic.

"I guess someone woke up," he says, half to me and half to his daughter. Alice grins sheepishly.

"To be fair, I was _pretty_ excited…" Edward looks up.

"Excited about what?" he asks, looking at me specifically.

"Um, I asked Alice if she and Jasper would like to be godparents…"

"Oh, ok. From the squeal I heard down the hall, I'm gathered the answer was yes," he says, sniggering. Good, he didn't have a problem with it.

I attempt to sleep as Edward and Alice play pass the parcel with Elizabeth. It is quiet for a while, then out of the blue, of course Alice speaks.

"You should shorten the name. I mean, like, a nickname of sorts. Liz? Libby? Elly? Beth? So many different options. I like Beth personally. Liz is used too often. Libby is cool too…"

"I think we'll call her by her _actual_ name, and she can decide what she'd like to be called when she gets older," Edward says calmly.

"That sounds fair, I guess…" Even though my eyes are closed, I can imagine Alice pouting in her Alice-y way. I smile to myself.

I hear footsteps come through the door. I wasn't expecting anymore visitors (all my work, or I should say _former_ work colleagues, had come, wished me well and gone again), so it must be the doctor. Sure enough, I open my eyes, the doctor is checking Elizabeth over. It wasn't the same doctor who had delivered her, but he looked fairly doctor-y, with the white coat and balding head and all.

"Looks like everything going nicely. No irregularities, no discolouration, no breathing issues. She's the strongest premature baby I've ever seen. You should be free to go home now." I grin. Finally! "Yes, I thought you would be pleased. Now, there's some last minute paperwork to be done, that'll only take a few minutes. In the mean time, you can pack up, get dressed, and go home. And take it _easy_. No flying in airplanes for at least a month please. For your sake as well as your baby's," he tells me sternly. I nod, a little annoyed. How long would I be stuck in this country? Ugh.

I get dressed slowly; it's hard when you've been sitting or lying in bed for 2 days. Alice helped me a bit.

I couldn't wait to get home and be with my baby. Although we had limited resources on hand, as most of it was already at our new home on the other side of the world, we would manage.

The relief one feels when you step into your nice warm house after a few days stuck in a bed, is almost impossible to describe. Carrying Elizabeth in her carrier, I walk upstairs to my bedroom. As we were not expecting this little miracle quite so soon, we had a makeshift crib in our room, which would do fine for the extra month we would be here. The buyers of our house were happy to wait another month until we left.

Edward walks up too, also feeling the relief of being home. Of the 2 and a half days I had been in hospital, he had left my side all of once; to buy the portable crib. I told him he should go home and sleep in a proper bed, but of course he refused.

"Nice to be home, isn't it?" he says cheerfully. I nod in agreement. "Are you still sore?" he asks sheepishly.

"Err, a little… nothing unmanageable…" I say half-confidently.

"Oh good. Because I've been wanting to do this for 2 days."

"Do what?" I ask, but only get half a word in, because he has whisked me off my feet into a passionate kiss, that remained unbroken for what felt like forever. When we finally break away, breathing heavily, I am still in his arms, off the ground. His eyes are full of excitement and anxiousness. Full of life.

I think I can get used to this.


	21. My Cheeks Hurt

**Awww, you guys are so sweet. I love the reviews you give me, they really make my day :) **

**Anyhoo, the story's not over yet! :D **

I am living life one day at a time. If I can get through one day, I can get through the next. It can be quite boring sometimes. Usually I would be at the studio, writing or recording songs, drinking coffee and staring at my P.A. Ah, the days when Edward was just my assistant. It seemed so long ago. Who knew our lives could change so dramatically in the course of a year. A year ago I lived alone. Now I live with my family. Sounds funny when you apply it to me; I never thought I'd have one. At least one that really cared for me, or I them.

I lie on the bed, just for something to do, and stare at the ceiling. Elizabeth, asleep in the cot next to the bed, stirs a little, shaking the crib ever so slightly. This movement catches my attention. I get up and walk to the crib, staring at her adorable little facing and wondering, 'how could this gorgeous little miracle possibly be mine?'

Seeing that she is deeply asleep, and the baby monitor is on and in place, I walk to the kitchen, in the aim to get some much missed coffee. Edward is sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper. I see the gossip section already in the bin. While making my coffee, he comes up and hugs me from behind, resting his cheek on my shoulder blade, which is hard to do, seeing as he's so much taller than me. I turn around to kiss him, but he puts a finger to my lips before I can do so.

"I was wondering…" he says ominously.

"What were you wondering?" I mumble against his finger.

"Do you trust me?" he says, almost teasingly.

"Of course, with my life," I said almost immediately, with no hint of doubt in my tone.

"Then could we go for a drive? Before you ask where, I haven't thought that far ahead," he says, teasing now. I smile.

"Ok… but, um, Elizabeth?" I say to him. How could he forget that we have a 3 week old daughter sleeping upstairs.

"Already taken care of," he assures me. Right on cue, the doorbell rings. Edward opens it, and sure enough, Elizabeth's godmother is standing at the door, with her standard baby-sitting supplies in hand. I nod in understanding. Ah, I get it.

"Hey Alice," I say to her, trying to be casual.

"Hey Bella! So, everything is set, you're going for a err… 'drive', and Elizabeth is asleep! So, off you go!" She pushes Edward towards the door, and me too, since I'm holding Edward's hand. Edward laughs, either at my expression or Alice's pushiness, I'm not too sure. Alice closes the front door in our faces. I give Edward a confused look. He just grins at me. He walks toward the car, me in tow. He's still smiling as we get in.

Ok, yeah, I'm confused. Why would he randomly want to drive somewhere? Boredom? Had he planned this? Looked like it, gathering by Alice's all too convenient appearance. And what had she meant when she put the word 'drive' in inverted commas?

He's still smiling. All through the drive, he would not stop. He must be very excited as to where we're going. I don't recognise the surroundings, but the tinting on the windows is so heavy I can't exactly tell where we are in general anyway.

What I do notice is that we are near a pier. I pier that looks vaguely familiar. There is a parking lot a little way up from it, and here is where we park. We get out, and the wind whips my hair into my face. So much for my perfect hair…

Edward just grins at me as we walk towards the water. Then I notice where we are. I used to have an apartment down here, when I was first starting out as a recording artist. I came here often, as a place to escape. I drew, practiced my singing. It's so quiet out here that no one would hear you, even if you sang your loudest. I recognise the wooden dock, and the place where I knocking into a mysterious stranger one day…

"This is where we met…" I mumble to myself. Of course, he hears me.

"Yes. I'll never forget that day, it changed my life," he says sweetly.

"I remember too. We did the classic bumping into each thing… I dropped my sketch book, and you grabbed it before it could fall of the edge of the pier. Then you started helping me in everyway possible; showing me different sketching techniques, catching me as I almost fell over, you bought me coffee…" I smile at the memory. Coffee eventually became a motif for our relationship. He smiles too. "Then I said you would a good P.A… I didn't think you would take it seriously. But two months later, there you were, applying for the job of my P.A," I tease.

"That day, the day I bumped into you, was the start of my life. Up until that day it had been a life, sure, but I wasn't living it until I met you," he says sweetly, holding my hands. I blush and look down, a habit I always do when someone says something sweet to me. He grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. "I'd rather you were looking at me until I'm finished talking, Bella," he scolds teasingly. He gives a smirk when I grimace.

"I wanted to do this earlier, but my plans were interrupted by our little miracle. I wanted to do things right, in order, but it got a bit out of hand…"

"Edward, what are you-"

"Please, let me finish. I've wanted to ask you, say this to you, for a long time now. I know it's only been a year, but… I'm ready to spend my life with you. Properly." He reaches into his back pocket and produces a small square shaped box. I gasp as he slides down onto one knee, and opens the box, to a brilliant silver ring, with small diamonds right around the circumference of it. I forget how to breath as he says the words that he already knows the answer to.

"Isabella Swan, will you do me the _extraordinary_ honour of marrying me?" I forget how to speak, I forget how to breathe, I forget my name, even though he has just said it. I gasp for air as I try and say that one word. Edward looks concerned as my silence continues.

"Bella are you okay?" he asks with concern, still on one knee, holding the ring up to me. I can only nod. "Are you saying yes to 'are you okay' or are you agreeing to marry me?" I finally manage to find my voice and say:

"Both." He smiles the widest smile I've ever seen on anyone, quickly grabbing the ring from its box and sliding it onto the third finger on my left hand. It fits perfectly. In an almost blinding movement, he picks me off my feet and spins me in a circle, laughing the whole time. I find I am laughing too, for it is quite possibly the happiest moment of my life. He pulls me into a kiss that lasted an immeasurable amount of time. When he finally sets me down, he starts talking again.

"Now, I want to do this as soon as possible… so I was thinking… Vegas?" he suggests, grinning. I stare at him blankly. Did he not know me at all?

"Now, let's see. I'm a pop—well, former pop star, who is rich and famous. I am therefore entitled to a big and lavish wedding, like the one I've been dreaming of since I was ten. Also, I will not deny Alice the chance to plan her baby sister's wedding. I'm sure she can get a wedding together…" Edward pouts, the cutest expression.

"But I want to marry you _now_," he whines, reminiscent of a child, when they don't get something they want. I laugh.

"I know. But come on, I want the white dress and the flowers and the hundreds of guests and the orchestra and the choir and all the wedding stuff that you dream about when you're kids…" I say, starting to remember all the things I wished I could have in my wedding. I think I made a list when I was eleven. Edward sighs.

"I suppose. That would be fun… would take a little while to plan though…" he reminds me logically.

"I'm aware. Like I said, I'm sure Alice can do it. To make it easier, we could have the wedding in Australia," I suggest.

"That's a good idea…" he mumbles. I can't believe I'm actually talking about planning a wedding. _My_ wedding. I never thought I'd ever be doing it. I grin at the thought. I'm getting married. I'm _actually_ getting _married_. I start to laugh, and Edward gives me a confused look.

"What's the joke?" he asks teasingly.

"It's not a very good one…" He shrugs. "I was just thinking… I'm getting married. I mean, I'm actually getting _married_," I exclaim. He chuckles.

"I know," he says, just as excited as I am. I jump into his arms happily, and he holds me tightly.

We walk back to the car, hand in hand. I can't stop smiling, and my cheeks hurt because of it.

I bounded through the door when we got home, anxious to tell Alice the news. I'm pretty sure she knew anyway, but I wanted to announce it to _someone_. I practically jump across the kitchen.

"Alice, Alice! Guess what?" I ask like a kid on Christmas Day.

"What, Bella?" she queries teasingly, going along with my little game.

"I'm getting married!" I almost squeal, showing Alice the ring on my finger.

"What a lovely ring! It must have cost a fortune!" she says, giving Edward a wink. He smiles.

"How soon can you get a wedding together, Alice?" I ask, serious now.

"Hmmm, I don't know. I already have a dress on hold…" I give her a curious glance. "Well, I knew that Edward would propose, and I was prepared for a potentially very short organisation time. I wouldn't want you to wear something off the rack!" she scoffs in horror.

"Well you better get your dress soon, I wouldn't want my maid of honour wearing something off the rack!" I say with mock disgust. The look on Alice's face was priceless. Almost as hilarious as when I asked her to be Elizabeth's godmother. She jumps up and hugs me enthusiastically. I laugh at the same time as Edward does.

"So, a month?" I ask, when I get my breath back from Alice's bone-crushing hug.

"I guess I can get a wedding together in a month… where do you plan to have it?" I give a sheepish grin.

"Err, Australia…?" My answer turns into a question as I see the frown forming on Alice's face.

"That will make it harder, but hey, it's your wedding," she says, giving in.

_My_ wedding.

So much can happen in one year. In the space of twelve months, I had: gotten together with my love of several years, gone on tour to Australia, gone mad from the paparazzi, had a baby, almost move to Australia and gotten engaged.

A normal person would explode from all that activity.

But not me. I'm not normal at all.

**I thought about writing a shotgun wedding when she was pregnant, but I figured this is a lot nicer :D**

**Thinking of doing a sequel to this when it's finished… opinions? Should I leave sleeping dogs lie, or write a sequel to this enjoyable story?**

**:)**


	22. New Life

This is it. I mean it's really it. I'm leaving this house for the last time.

It's so empty. All traces of anyone living here are gone; it looks eerie.

I stand in the upstairs hallway, looking at each empty room. One after the other, completely desolate. I go down the stairs, to where my favourite sofa should have been. But it's not. It's on a ship, far away from here. I sit on the floor of the living room, gaping at the bare walls.

Seems kind of silly to just sit here, in the middle of the room, but what else was I to do? Edward is packing last minute things, and Elizabeth is fast asleep in the car. Alice is, knowing her, already at the airport checking in. I can picture her checking her watch as she sits in the departure lounge sipping coffee. I smile.

Alice had been a very good sport about the wedding. Despite it being held in another country, she had managed to book a venue (Melbourne Botanical Gardens), a large tent, chairs, organised a cake, flowers and other assorted things. I can't imagine a better wedding planner.

Edward derails my train of thought as he stops in the hallway, noticing me of course. He looks at me blankly, confused as to why I am sitting in the middle of the living room floor. I smile at him sadly. He smiles back, and walks to come sit with me, dropping his bag on the floor.

"Hey," he says plainly.

"Hi," I mumble back. I lean into his shoulder, and he wraps his arms around me.

"So this is it," he chuckles, kissing the top of my head.

"Yeah," I croak, aware that tears were on the verge of falling. Edward rubs my back soothingly.

"Just think, we'll be in Australia tomorrow… well, not counting the time difference of course… but my point is that we'll be away from all of this stress, this… this mess," he says positively. I nod, smiling at the thought. He's right of course. Then again, Edward is always right.

"Now come on, we're out of here," he announces, getting up. He offers me hand so I can get up, which I willingly take. What I did not expect however, is that when I got up he would pull me into a vice tight hug, followed by a passionate kiss. When he breaks away I'm gasping for air, and I forget everything I was sad about, which was clearly his intention.

We walk out to the car, where Elizabeth is still blissfully asleep. After making sure (again) that she is properly strapped in the car cradle, I climb into the front seat. Edward gives me a smile that could only say 'this is it'.

"I know," I reply.

As we pull into the airport, I can see Steve and Alice, waiting impatiently for us to arrive. Alice is her usual bouncy self, almost jumping in place as we get closer to them.

Steve is here, not only to drive the car back to the studio once we've gone (and then sell it), but to say goodbye to us one more time, as he can't come to the wedding. We'd been 'partners in crime', as he referred to it once, for a long time, and it would hard to say goodbye to someone who you've known so long.

We pull up to the front of the terminal, and the butterflies in my tummy get worse. We pull to a stop, get out, both receive hugs from Alice, carefully get Elizabeth out, unload our bags and head to check in counter. Carrying a baby, a travel case and dragging a suitcase is very difficult, but I seem to manage.

Check in is easy, even though supposedly check ins with infants can be tricky, even for first class. It's funny, I always dreaded a flight with a screaming baby, and always thought the mothers should control them, but now I _am_ the mother of a potentially screaming baby… quite ironic in a way.

Security is something I always hated. Not because I was ever carrying anything illegal, but it felt like an invasion of privacy. I don't particularly like having my bag of things rummaged through. This time was fine, nothing beeped or anything.

Our flight wasn't for another hour, so we went and had our last American coffee, Edward and I. Steve and Alice had coffee too, but of course, they would be returning to America. I thought about buying some lame American souvenirs or something, to remind me of my home country, but then I remembered I'm happy to be leaving.

I don't understand how my daughter is still asleep, but she is. Hopes she stays like this on the plane. That would awesome. No screaming baby to annoy everyone.

After some awkward conversation, as it always is when your leaving people, we see on the screen above that our flight is boarding. The butterflies return to my tummy, reminding me of what I'm about to do.

We all walk to the departure gate, where passengers are starting to board. Edward grabs my hand and I take a deep breath in. I turn around, remembering Steve. He has a miserable look on his face, and he looks like he's about to cry.

"Oh Steve!" I give him a hug. "You'll come visit us sometime, right?" I ask hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll try," he mumbles. I give him a friendly kiss on the cheek and smile. He smiles back. He plants a kiss on the still sleeping Elizabeth's forehead.

He goes to give Edward a hand shake, but they end up in a hug, patting each other on the back, as guys do. They don't say a word, also as guys do.

We give a final wave, and proceed to the line for boarding.

The flight attendant recognises me as soon as I give her my boarding pass. She smiles hugely at me, scans my pass, then asks me for an autograph, which, with a roll of my eyes, I give her. Edward chuckles as I shake my head at the crazed fan. Thankfully they were becoming less common; most of my fans hate me now.

We walk down the corridor connecting the plane and the terminal. The butterflies in my stomach grow with anticipation with every step. I grab Edward's hand as we see the door of the plane. As we get within earshot of the male flight attendant, I can hear that he welcomes each person by name after he sees your boarding pass. Well that's nice. It's not often that the flight attendants care what your name is.

He gets to us, and sees my boarding pass, and his eyes instantly light up.

"Well hello there, Bella. Or should I call you Penny?" he chuckles. I laugh too.

"Bella will do," I say, smiling. We hop on, in the directing that he's pointed us in.

We sit in the comfortable seats (I love first class) for what seems like a while. Doesn't help the nerves. It's not that I'm not a good flyer, it's just the thought of not getting on the return plane. One way tickets. We're never coming back.

The safety video starts to play, and recognise the flight attendant from before. He gives me a wink as he moves into his position. I giggle, to which Edward looks at me strangely.

As the plane starts to move, I feel like I'm about to burst with nervousness. I try thinking about something else. The wedding will do. How I've dreamed for a long time of walking down a lavish isle, to Edward, dressed in a marvellous tux, and making all the girls envious of me, the one who is marrying him. I can imagine his smile, the smile that says: 'I'm the happiest man alive'. I close my eyes, partly because of tiredness.

We take off, a feeling that always bothers me. It's like the plane takes off, but your stomach has a delayed reaction, and you feel dizzy because of the sudden change in altitude. I keep my eyes closed, just in case I happen to look out the window, to my home, disappearing beneath me. Oh, I had left America plenty of times, but I always returned.

We're never coming back. I phrase I go over in my mind a million times. It's hard to wrap my head around, I don't think it's hit me yet. A feeling of joy also spreads through me; we're getting away from the stress, the noise, the paparazzi, and the pressure. I sigh in contentment.

The flight is very long. I manage to watch five movies, eat lunch, and eventually, dinner. It would take me a while to get used to the time change, with a 19 hour difference between Melbourne and L.A. So we left at 12… and they said we would arrive in Melbourne at 10pm, 2 days ahead of when we left, yet it's a 15 and half hour flight… ugh my brain!

I forget trying to work in out, and go back to watching Moulin Rouge.

For a good portion of the flight, I slept on Edward's shoulder. I had to put a pillow on, because it's so bony, but he wrapped his arms around me, rubbing my back, and with it, my fears. Good thing these chairs are big. Wouldn't have been able to do this in Economy.

Elizabeth slept (god bless) for the entire flight. I always knew she was an angel. My perfect child – never a hassle, always a pleasure. I'm all the baby sitters she'll have will be very relaxed with her.

The flight attendant says over the speaker that we will be landing shortly, and to please put your seatbelts on. Aw man, Moulin Rouge is only half way through! Oh well, I've seen it a million times anyway.

I feel the cabin pressure change, so that must mean we're on our way down. The butterflies return as I consider that fact.

The landing doesn't bother me as much. It's just a bump, not a funny feeling. We touch down on the Melbournian runway, and we're in Australia, our new home.

As we're in first class, we get to get out first (aren't we lucky?). We step off the plane, and the first thing I notice is that it's very cold. Edward tells me the temperature is 19 degrees Celsius, which I find out later is 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Wow. It's late March, and it's 66 degrees, even though they just had summer. Edward tells me the Melbournian weather is totally unpredictable, and it's renowned for this.

I'm going to have to get used to the metric system. Measuring things is these weird things called metres, instead of feet. Kilometres instead of miles. Ugh. Not to mention the whole temperature thing.

We step out into the terminal. I recognise it, because I've been here before, but I still marvel at it, because I'm here to stay. I won't be returning here in four days, or even two weeks. We walk down the long hallway, catching the looks of some people. As we come to Customs, and I notice Alice gets a little jittery.

"Alice, are you okay?" I ask her.

"Oh… um, yeah. I just… had a bad experience with Customs once…" she mumbles.

"What happened?" Edward asks curiously.

"I… brought some fresh cherries into America from my trip to Italy… just something I bought to eat on the plane, you know. I totally forgot that I had them in my bag, so I forgot to declare them. They found them, and fined me $200. And there was like, 2 cherries left…" She shakes her head and scowls in the general direction of one of the customs officers.

"Well, you haven't forgot anything this time have you?" I ask, confident that she hadn't. It was very rare of Alice to forget something.

"Of course not. I'm not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice."

I smile at my sister. I wish I could be that confident.

We get through customs with no problem, of course. They brought out the sniffer beagles; they're so cute! It was an effort not to pet them, but I knew I couldn't.

We finally get to baggage claim, and pick up our bags. As we move to the arrival gate, my butterflies picked up their speed.

We see a bunch of people waiting for their loved ones and friends. As I step through, in a typical celebrity brisk walk (in heels I might add). Some people point and stare as I walk out. The others look at me, shaking their heads, almost as if they were saying 'tsk tsk". I ignore them, and head to the nearest coffee shop for some much needed sustenance.

While drinking my coffee (which I got for free, from a star struck barista), I think about where I am. Away from the noisy and crowded life of a pop star. No annoying journalists here. Or at least not as many.

We finish our coffee, and head out of the airport. We call a cab (I'm going to have to get used to calling them _taxis_) and head to our new house on the inner suburbs of Melbourne.

All the beautiful things I saw on my first trip are still here, even though the leaves on the trees are turning nice shades of yellow and red. We drive through the bustling city streets (it isn't on the way to our house, but I wanted to see it), and pass my favourite place in Melbourne, Flinder's Street Station. When I last came here I didn't know what it was called. I had to ask one of the locals to tell me.

As drive closer to our new home, in Toorak, I make a list of the possible schooling options for Elizabeth. We pass Wesley College, a large school just outside of the CBD, which looks promising. I think I'll look into that one.

The cab (ugh! _Taxi_.) pulls up to a very large white house, which I recognise. I saw the photos. The cab driver whistles in amazement.

Edward and I get out, me holding our daughter. We stare at the house for a long time.

As we walk towards the door, he grabs my hand. Both of our hands turn the doorknob.

And we take the first step towards our new lives.


	23. Be Prepared

"Let's see… flowers, decorations, table centrepieces…"

"Alice, I'm sure the restaurant staff can deal with all of this," I say to a much frizzled Alice.

"Bullshit they can! Like they say, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself! The only way this will get organised is if I do it myself."

"Of course…" I mumble.

"Look, it's exactly twelve hours, twenty seven minutes and fifteen seconds until the wedding starts. I can't leave anything not-done."

"I know Alice, I know…" I've heard this conversation before. Why am I up this late? I should be in bed. But no, Alice had to drag me all the way to mansion to see if things were ok. At eleven 'o clock? Really? Ugh. It'll be twelve before I get home, and twelve thirty before I actually get _into_ bed. Edward's probably already asleep.

We had our bachelor/bachelorette parties on the same night (a couple of nights ago), to avoid one of us being extremely tired on two days. We had to hire a babysitter, as Alice was at my party (she hired a male stripper… I made her swear not to tell Edward. I mean, unless she doesn't want her head).

"Can we _please_ go home now?" I whine.

"Alright, alright," she fusses. I start to walk towards the door, but Alice makes no move, looking around one last time. I pull her arm and pull her out the door, to her constant protesting.

She's making me feel worse about tomorrow. Not that it won't be the best day of my life, it's that I'm so nervous about it. I'll probably fall over in the long dress and high heels. Mind you, I have been in some outrageous costumes… But what if I stuff up my vows? What if I lose my train of thought by looking at him?

I shake my head, trying to get the worrisome thoughts out of my head. Alice notices.

"Bella are you okay?" she says, quickly glancing towards me and back to the road again.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking of all the things that could go wrong tomorrow…" I bite my lip.

"Well don't. That's my job. Your job is to be gorgeous and marry the man you love. You will have a smile on your face the whole time, trust me," she reassures me. I smile. "That's the spirit!" Alice says with enthusiasm. I roll my eyes.

When we got home I went straight to bed, almost falling asleep on the stairs. When I finally crawled into bed, Edward was already asleep. Or so I thought. After about three minutes of lying there next to him, I felt a pair of familiar arms snake around my waist. A pair of equally familiar lips kissed my neck.

"I missed you," they say, pausing from the kissing for a second. I smile. Of course he would miss me, even though I was only gone for about three hours. I yawn again; my jaw was getting sore from it. Edward notices.

"Yes, go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow. Heck, that doesn't even _begin_ to cover it…"

He may have said some more, but I was already asleep.

A shrieking voice woke me up in the morning.

"Get up! Get up! Get up! That means you too, Bella!"

Alice. She had come to give us a wake up call. How nice of her… The warm arms disappear and I hear him get out of bed. I open my eyes and give Alice a glare. She is looking at Edward with a strange expression, like disgust crossed with… well, the look you pull when you see someone attractive. I look to Edward, who is still getting up. Oh. I forgot that Edward sleeps shirtless… Well, I don't blame Alice for staring. Not at all. In fact I find it hard to take my eyes of him all the time. I shake my head to wake myself up, and slowly get out of bed. Alice continues to shriek at us until we are both vaguely presentable and fully fed.

The door bell rings and Alice gets up from her stool to answer it.

The house has a quite simple layout, much like the one in America. Downstairs there are several rooms, including a massive lounge room, a few bedrooms, and the kitchen and dining area. The kitchen bench has high stools on the other side of it. The dining room is an extension on the kitchen, with elaborate furnishings. Upstairs there are several bedrooms, a study, bathrooms and a rumpus room. One of the bedroom has turned into a nursery.

The person at the door is Edward's high school best friend, Jacob, who is also the best man. I realty like Jacob. He's so nice and a great friend to Edward. He stuck by him through everything. And even years after graduation, they've still kept in touch. Hs girlfriend, Leah, is also very nice.

"'Sup you guys?" Jacob says in his usual slang. I smile. You can't help but smile around him.

"Not much, just a wedding to organise, brides to make gorgeous and numerous other stressful things," Alice says sarcastically.

"Alright Alice, calm down. The wedding will go off without a hitch, trust me," Jacob reassures her. Alice sighs in frustration.

"Where's Lizzy?" Jacob asks. Lizzy is the nickname Jacob decided to call our daughter. Sounds like _lizard_ to me. Ugh.

"Asleep," I answer. Honestly, I don't know how she can stay asleep for so long. Even the loudest noises don't wake her. She's an angel. Alice suddenly points to me.

"You. Come with me. Now." I get pulled by her surprisingly strong grip (despite how tiny she is).

She pulls me upstairs. She stops halfway up, and turns to Jacob.

"Get out of here. Go do what guys do before weddings. And remember, he can't see her until she walks down the isle," Alice says to Jacob in rush.

"Wait, I'm not going to see Edward until… the wedding?" Alice nods once. I think for a minute. Then I rush down the stairs and hug Edward. Inn my peripheral vision, I see Alice roll her eyes.

"See you at the alter Miss Swan," Edward whispers with a chuckle.

"I'll be the one in white," I say to him, playing along. He grins at me, and kisses me passionately, leaving Alice and Jacob looking away. Then Alice decides she's had enough, and grabs my arm again. I reluctantly pull away from Edward, getting dragged by Alice. I wave half heartedly and go up the stairs with Alice.

Alice sits me down in front of the bathroom mirror, looking quite annoyed and stressed. I decide to keep my mouth shut, and refrain from telling her to chill out. Trust me, that would only make it worse.

She starts to run a brush through my hair (it has a lot of tangles in it). As she brushes it through, I notice she doesn't seem to care about how painful it is to brush it with such force.

"Ow! Alice!" I squeal when she hacks at a particularly bad tangle.

"Sorry, Bella. I'm just so stressed! Planning a wedding is harder than it looks you know. Especially when you have to plan it in a _month_." She glares at me in the mirror.

"Hey, you should be thanking me. Edward wanted to have a Vegas wedding," I scoff.

"He did not!" she gasps. I nod. "Honestly, boys really don't know what girls want do they?" I shake my head in agreement. "I would have thought he know you better than that. I mean, hello? You're a celebrity! They're _renowned_ for having glorious and massive weddings. Goodness me!" she rants. I smile at her expressions.

"Question. How many people exactly did you invite to my wedding?" I ask curiously. Of course she'd given me veto power on the guest list, but she had never actually mentioned it. She was a sneaky one.

"Well… it's not… _that_ many people I guess. I mean compared to other weddings it's not that much. I mean it wasn't like I invited the entire Hollywood community or anything-"

"Alice!" I snap, to make her get to point.

"…maybe a hundred and fifty people…?" she says quietly. A hundred and fifty people?

"How are they all going to fit in the marquee?"

"Bella, you do realise I hired a circus tent, right?" she says almost sarcastically. I stare at her blankly. A circus tent?

"How much is that going to cost me?"

"Nothing you can't afford. It's about $1000 dollars an hour I think. We'll only have it for about 8 hours. And the restaurant we booked isn't more than that either. Like I said, nothing you can't afford."

I sigh. Trust Alice to figure this out already. If there's one thing my sister never is, it's disorganised.

"So who'd you invite?" I ask casually.

"Um, I think I invited all the studio staff from L.A… obviously Steve couldn't make it… some celebrity chums of yours, Matthew Bellamy, Fergie, Gwen Stefani, all of the All-American Rejects, Lady Gaga, Lea Michelle, Diana Argon, Adam Lambert, Bruno Mars, Jason Derulo, Kelly Clarkson… umm…"

"Just to name a few…" I say sarcastically. Alice nods enthusiastically, to which I roll my eyes again. I seem to do that a lot in her presence.

I look at my hands, to avoid looking in the mirror. I start to fiddle with the dainty diamond ring on my third finger on my left hand. I smile at what that ring entails. When Alice's hands leave my hair for more than two minutes, I look up. I gasp at the intricate braiding my hair has become.

"You like it?" she asks. I nod, at a loss for words. Alice grins and pats my head. She gets out numerous bags, which opens to hundreds of make-up utensils. Alice gets out the foundation.

"I don't want much of that… I want people to remember me for my actual face, not layers of make up…" I say, remembering how awful some girls look when they have foundation on. Alice nods.

"I figured that would be the case, which is why I've got a brush, so I can apply it lightly, to areas where your skin tone is uneven. Which, I might add, is in not many place," she says in a matter-of-fact tone. I sigh. She's thought of absolutely everything.

Alice continues to make me look gorgeous, and fits me into the dress. I'm scared to look in the mirror. But Alice convinces me. I gasp at the dazzling figure in the mirror; this beautiful creature cannot possibly be me. Alice goes to change, while I admire myself.

"Edward is going cry over how beautiful you look," Alice states, no manner of joke in her tone. I turn around and gasp at her; she looks equally as gorgeous.

"Alice you look better than I do!"

"Pah. It's all about _you_ today. Remember that, ok?" I nod.

We hear a car horn honk from outside.

"The car's here, we've got to go." I start to hyperventilate. "Bella, breath. Deep breaths. That's it. Don't panic, everything will go off without a hitch," she reassures me again.

This is it. I know I'm going to trip over or something.

Eek.


	24. Coming Together

In, out. In, out. In, out. That's it. Just breath. Relax. It's not like we're there yet.

"We're here!" Alice squeals in my ear. Holy _shit_. Thanks, Alice. Not helping here. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I start to breath very quickly. "Bella, just relax okay? Trust me, you're not going to trip, muck up your vows or laugh in the middle of the ceremony ok? You'll be just fine." Surprisingly, Alice says this a harsh tone, like a teacher or a parent telling off a child. I nod my head in fear, shrinking a little from the way she's towering over me. She turns suddenly, and gets out of the car. She then helps me get out, which is a mean feat. This dress is so poofy it's hard to sit at all.

"Did Leah pick up Elizabeth alright?" I ask Alice. I was adamant about leaving before Leah got there to bring her here, but Alice was insistent. We called her, and she said she was literally two minutes away, so I very, very reluctantly left the house.

"Yes, she did. They should be here by now. We went a slower way. By my request of course." I stare at her blankly.

"Why?" I ask, confused.

"So you would be fashionably late of course! It's a tradition every bride should stick to," Alice says in her matter-of-fact tone. I roll my eyes for the hundredth time today. I turn around to face where I am going, and gasp at the sight. I hadn't seen the set-up for the ceremony, only the reception. It was beautiful. It was a massive circus tent, pink and purple striped. It was set up in a grassy field, with wildflowers scattered around everywhere. I could see a little bit inside; it had rows and rows of chairs lined up in curved lines, lining a stage-like alter with ribbons and flowers around it. Alice pulled me sharply from my poised spot.

"No! He'll see you!" I knew immediately that she meant Edward. If I had stretched my head a bit further, I probably would have seen him. Oh well. I take a deep breath. Faint music starts to play. I recognise it as _Teenage Dream_ by Katy Perry. Which is kind of awkward, since she's here… Anyway, it's a very appropriate song for the occasion. Then I freak out because the that's the song I walk down the isle to, and therefore my cue. Eeeek. I make a funny little noise that kind of sounds like a whimper. Alice rubs my shoulder.

"It's time," she says excitedly. "Now, I'll go first. Count to ten and follow me. And please be careful." I nod at her instructions. She walks through the door of the tent. I see her walk down the long isle as I count to ten in my head. I then follow her. I step through; it is even more beautiful than I imagined. Flowers and ribbons everywhere. I look to the front, and don't take my eyes off the bronze-haired boy standing there with a massive grin on his face. I grin back. I pass Leah and Elizabeth, who are sitting on the end seat. Elizabeth is surprisingly awake. I smile and wave at her. I turn my eyes back to Edward, who thankfully, I have almost reached. When I do reach him, I take his hand immediately. I have a moment of despair when I realise my father should have been there to walk me down the isle. But I don't despair for very long, because, in truth, he deserves to be where he is.

I turn to face Edward. The pastor smiles at us both.

"Ready to begin?" he says in a quiet voice. We nod. He turns his radio microphone on, which is clipped on his collar.

"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to celebrate the coming together of this man, and this woman in holy matrimony. We are…" I tune out for a moment to stare at Edward. I always got lost in his eyes; I find it hard to concentrate on anything else when I do. The pastor's voice seems to blur as I stare at my soon-to-be-husband. Very soon actually. Then Edward suddenly says 'I do'. Crap, better pay attention.

"Do you, Elizabeth Marie Swan, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? In sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," I say in a shaky voice. I can feel the tears coming already. Edward rubs my hand in comfort. The pastor asks Jacob for the rings. Jacob pats his coat, looking for them, fumbling around in his pockets. He gives the audience a panicked look. He looks around to see if he's dropped them .Edward is giving him a death glare, which I smirk at. Then, Jacob goes up to Edward a appears to look behind his ear. The audience laughs when I does the classic 'it's behind your ear' trick, and produces the rings. I laugh too. Trust Jacob to be dong magic tricks in a time like this. Edward punches him on the shoulder, to which the audience also laughs at.

We put the rings on each other's fingers (with some effort, I might add), and grin. We look to the pastor who is also smiling.

"I now pronounce this couple husband and wife! Edward, you may kiss your bride!"

Edward grabs my waist almost violently and pulls me into a passionate kiss. I melt into his form. I hear everyone cheer and clap. I pull away, short of breath, to see his gorgeous face. He's truly mine. We turn to our audience, grinning from ear to ear.

I can't believe it. I actually just got married. Wow.

Everyone is cheering and clapping. I turn to Alice, who to my surprise is crying. I hug her tight.

"Look at you, my baby sister," she whispers in my ear. I smile, feeling the tears drip down my cheek. Alice wipes them away quickly. "And that, my dear is why I applied water proof make-up," she says teasingly. I laugh and hug her again.

We sign the register to the sounds of a children's choir, who sound beautiful. They sing 'The Lord is My Sheppard', one of my favourites. Alice's doing of course. After that was done, we start to walk down the isle.

Jacob gives me a big bear hug. I also punch him on the arm for the ring stunt.

"It was funny. Admit it, you laughed," he chuckled.

"I'm looking forward to your speech," I giggle. Jacob, being the best man, has to make a speech at the reception, and knowing him, it's going to be hilarious. He grins at me.

Edward and I slowly start to make our way down the isle, hugging people and sharing tears as we move through. Elisa gives me a massive hug and a kiss on the cheek, telling me how beautiful I look. I tell her that it's thanks to Alice.

"Darling, I've done your make-up for three years, and I can tell you that it's not the make-up that makes you beautiful," she tells me with tears in her eyes. Edward squeezes my hand; his way of saying 'I told you so'.

I hug many different people; my arms are getting tired. We finally get to the door of the tent, and I catch a familiar blonde woman out of the corner of my eye. I flinch at the sight of her.

Jessica, in all her glory, is standing near the door of the tent. Edward sees her a short while after I do. He glares at her. As she walks toward us I instinctively move towards Edward.

"Don't you think you've ruined our lives enough? Or couldn't you resist ruining the happiest day of our lives too?" Edward growls at her.

"I'm not here to cause trouble," she says, her head slightly bowed.

"To hell you aren't!" Edward shouts. People are starting to look now.

"I… came to apologise…" she stammers. I stare at her in shock. She was giving up. "I realise now that there's no point in fighting anymore. You're married. That's proof enough for me that you truly do love her…" she says to Edward. Edward has the same expression I do; shock. "I really did ruin your lives to some degree, and I am so, so sorry for that." Yes, she did. Even though it sort of was a blessing in disguise.

"Bella," she looks to me. "hold on to him. Don't ever let him go, or take him for granted, like I did. He's the best person you will ever meet." I nod, still in shock. "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, even though there probably isn't, apart from going away and never coming back, let me know. I would do anything." She sighs. "I guess I'll go now. And… I really am sorry." She bows her head, and I can see tears on her cheek. Without thinking, I walk towards her. I can feel Edward's eyes on my back as I cautiously wrap my arms around her tiny frame, and give her a hug. Everyone stares open mouthed at me, including Jessica.

I was expecting her to shrug me off. But to my surprise, she hugs me back.

"I forgive you," I whisper to her. She then hugs me tighter.

A truce then. What I always wanted. Deep down, I know she's a nice person. And I'm sure we could be friends in the future.

I break away, to meet her smiling face. I take her hand and lead her towards the door.

"You're very welcome to join the reception, if you would like…?" I ask her. She nods, still crying. I'm sure my eyes are red as well. I lead her towards a car which is going to the restaurant. Edward takes my hand again.

"You are amazing," he says plainly, kissing my forehead. I grin up at him.

"What you give, you get in return," I say to him.

"Indeed Mrs. Cullen, indeed," he agrees, grinning.

"Wow, way to turn an enemy into a friend, Bella. Trust you to do that on your wedding day," Alice says, rolling her eyes. I smile at her. I can't stop smiling today.

And for a bloody good reason. Mrs. Cullen… I get could used to that.

**Hey hey :)**

**Well, this story is coming to a close. The next chapter will be the last.**

**But never fear! You have convinced me to write a sequel! Yay :D**

**It will be about a thirteen year old Elizabeth, and her bringing up in Australia. Bella and Edward have hid her mother's past, so she doesn't know how famous her mum really is. She has a fantastic singing voice of course. She eventually finds out about Bella, and a long string of fights ensue. Along the way she meets Seth, who she gradually falls in love with. I can't help it, I'm such a romantic :D**

**That's the basic outline, I haven't started writing yet… **

**Next chapter, Jacob's speech ;)**


	25. Bliss

This is heaven. Surrounded by my family and friends celebrating our new life. I could not be happier.

Alice's planning is flawless. I knew I could count on her. If there's anyone who could pull off a wedding in a month, it was going to be her. I couldn't ask for a better sister.

The food was great, the music was great, and everything was wonderful. I sit there in my happiness, just looking at all the smiling faces of my favourite people in the world. Elizabeth is sitting on Leah's lap, being fed her dinner, and consequently spilling it all over herself in the process. I smile as I watch Leah clean up yet another spill.

I look at Edward, who is also watching our daughter be adorably cute. He looks at me and smiles.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look?" he asks, stroking my cheek. I shiver slightly at his soft touch. He had, many times.

"Yes," I say, giggling. He grins and pulls me in for kiss. For a moment I forget everyone around me, as I often do when I'm kissing him. The world around me just falls into the background. Then I hear a glass clinck and Alice's voice telling everyone to shut up. I ignore her.

"So, if they're quite done sucking face, I would like to begin the speeches." I break the kiss and turn to glare at her. She pokes out her tongue at me, to which the crowd laughs. "So, Jacob, if you'd like to start…" She pokes Jacob on the shoulder and sits down. Jacob stands up and gets out a piece of paper from his pocket. In a typical Jacob joke, it's connected to a red handkerchief, which is connect to another one, and another one, and he keeps pulling it out of his pocket. He gets to end and pulls out a flower, which he gives to me with a bow. I giggle. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Leah put her hand to her forehead in embarrassment. Then he starts to talk, finally.

"Well… when Edward asked me to be his best man I was like… 'what do I do?'. And he was like 'just be on time and wear a tie'. So I was driving to his house and I'm met with road works and red lights and stop signs and more red lights and I was like 'well at least I've got a tie…'." The audience laughs, including Edward and I.

"But seriously bro, congrats. You deserve all the happiness in the world. You helped me though some pretty shit times, and you were always there for me. I love you man. In like, a non sexual way, don't worry Bella." He winks at me, and I laugh.

"Short and sweet I always say, so on that note, I shall wrap up this speech with an original quote from the man himself: 'Some day I want to find a girl who'll love me for the person I am inside. You know, the one you know you'll spend your life with, from the very first time you see her. The girl who's your best friend, who knows you inside out, who you'll never stop loving.' What a fruit loop. Congrats again man." He says finally. He goes over to Edward and hugs him while the crowd claps. He hugs me as well.

Alice stands up now.

"I have to warn you, my speech isn't as funny as Jacob's. If you could call that funny…" Jacob pretends to be offended, and Alice sticks her tongue out again. Then she grins. "Bella. I couldn't be more privileged to be your maid of honour. You're the reason I'm here, alive. I owe you everything. You deserve happiness, and more."

"I could see that you loved him from the very first time you described him. If it wasn't your blushing that gave you away, it was the fact that you gushed about him for ten minutes straight," she says with a grin. Everyone laughs at my red cheeks. Trust me to be the literally blushing bride. "Then I saw you two together and I knew that in that in year's time I would speaking at your wedding. You just had that unmistakable bond that stays there forever. And I look forward to speaking at your 50th wedding anniversary. Here's to you guys!" she giggles. Everyone raises their glasses with Alice and laughs. I hug her enthusiastically.

"Thank you," I whisper.

"It was my pleasure sweetheart," she whispers back.

The festivities continue, and after we finish out dessert (sticky date pudding… mmmm…), Alice drags me to the dance floor, Edward as well, and announces that we are about to dance our traditional 'first dance'. I roll my eyes, but don't argue. No point really. The song is of course, _Sweet Disposition_, the song we first danced to as a couple. I smile at the memory. It's a bit fast for this sort of dancing, but we manage. Edward does all the leading of course. We twirl around the floor, and I feel like nothing could be more perfect than this moment. I forget that people are watching us, and get lost in the music and twirling. And after the song finishes, he leans down to kiss me passionately, like he did all those months ago. People clap and cheer, and I'm reminded again of that night, the night her first kissed me. When he announced his love for me in front of everyone at my birthday party, and I blushed just the same.

Alice hugs us both, and everyone else moves to the dance floor and starts dancing to Good Charlotte's _Last Night_. Alice definitely went through my playlist or something. Or Edward's, since we like all the same stuff. We go through many songs, and I'm getting tired. Then, a very familiar melody starts to play. I slowly turn to Alice, who is grinning very widely. Then, as this very, very familiar tune continues, my voice floods the hall. The little…! Alice has put _Hello Hello_, my most known song into the playlist! Edward laughs loudly as I fume at Alice.

"I couldn't resist! Come on, don't be angry! Edward thinks it's funny!" I turn to my husband, who is practically on the floor with laughter. Alice just grins sheepishly at me, and I couldn't hold it in. A spastic laugh burst out, and I'm in hysterics. Ah, Alice. God, I love her. I see her breath a sigh of relief, and start laughing with me. There are others laughing too as my voice fills the space. After I'm over my little laughing fit, I really listen to myself. And I smile. I actually sound good. I never used autotune, yet there isn't one note that's flat or sharp. I grin to myself in quiet satisfaction.

Many more songs play, and people gradually get tired. But then a song comes on that everyone knows and we all start dancing again. My feet hurt from jumping so much, and I'm worried that my heel might snap. But it doesn't, and I keep jumping every time one of my favourite songs come on. Which is practically every single song.

A few slow songs come on, like _The Only Exception_ by Paramore, and I find myself just swaying with Edward, in a teenage slow dance sort of way. I close my eyes, and I could stay here forever, in this moment. I look up sometimes, and I see all the couples doing the same. Alice and Jasper are next to us, and Leah and Jake are not far away. I see Elisa and another guy from the Studio in L.A., Paul dancing as well. I swear I saw them kiss too. Aw, that's nice. Then I see the people who are on the outside, sitting by themselves, looking at all the happy couples sadly. Jessica in particular. After the song is over, I go over to her.

"Are you okay?" I ask her quietly, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, I just… I don't know…" she mumbles.

"You hate being single," I guess.

"You have no idea," she says slowly, and laughs. I laugh too.

"You'll find someone eventually. There's at least one person in the world who'll love you more than they love themselves. Trust me," I say reassuringly.

"Thanks Bella. And I really am sorry for everything I did to you and Edward. Funny what jealously can do to a girl…" I nod, remembering the inward hatred I'd felt for Jessica when Edward and her were together.

"Who knows, your true love might even be in this room," I joke. She laughs. I wave at her and go back to Edward.

"I don't understand how you can be so…" Edward tells me as I retake my place in his arms.

"So… what?"

"Nice. I mean, after everything Jessica did to us, you forgive her so easily, and now you're sort of friends?" Edward questions.

"Everyone makes mistakes. She's a really nice person once you get past all that. And I'm not the sort of person to hold grudges," I defend her.

"I know…" he grins. I smile too, remembering little fights. I was always the one to forgive and forget first.

"I love you," I whisper.

"As I love you. That's the reason we're here," he whispers in my ear. I smile as I lean my head against his chest.

Everything is slowly winding down. A few people have left, and others are just sort of hanging around, talking casually with one another. I mingle with them, talking for a long time with people who I haven't seen in a while, like Emily, my friend from school, and her husband Sam.

I walk to the bathroom, to freshen up before I do another round of mingling, and I stop when I see myself in the mirror. I mean, I already decided that it can't possibly be me, but it hits me yet again how beautiful the girl in the mirror is.

As I come out of the bathroom, Alice is there to greet me.

"It's time," she says ominously. I raise my eyebrow at her. She grabs my hand in her typical pushy Alice-like way, and tows me towards where Edward is talking with Matthew Bellamy (who is his all time favourite musician; he must be gushing with excitement inside), and grabs him as well. She drags us both the centre of the room.

"You guys will take your leave now. The car will take you to a hotel, where all your bags are. You'll stay the night there, then board your plane tomorrow. I'm not telling you where you're going Bella, Edward's organised that part. Ready? Good." Edward grins at my expression, and I could tell he knew that I was speculating about where we were going.

"They're leaving!" Alice yells in a sing song voice, and people start to gather, as we walk hand in hand to the door. People rush in front of us with cameras, and as we step out the door they throw rose petals around us. Edward opens the door of the car for me, and also helps me get in the car. Good thing I only have to wear this dress once.

People are waving and shouting goodbye, and I can see Alice crying. Aw, bless her heart. I will repay her for this one day. I blow her a kiss as we drive away.

I sigh and lean my head against Edward's bony, yet so comfortable, shoulder. I start to fall asleep, but Edward taps me before I can. I look up at him.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asks. I think for a minute. Have I left something behind? Have I kissed him enough times? Have I not said something? Ah, yes. I see.

I go to my bag, which Alice has placed here, and grab my phone. I dial the number I already know by heart, and press **call**. After 7 rings she picks up.

"Hello?"

"Hi mom."

**The end! Oh gosh, I can't believe it's finished! Sorry I took so long to write this one, but I really wanted to get it right :) Look out for the sequel, which I hopefully shall be writing soon :)**


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